Arlington County, VA Shrink-Swell Risk

Arlington County's SSURGO shrink-swell reading

Low

In Arlington County, VA, 100% of the surveyed soil carries a "Low" shrink-swell rating, 1.5% linear extensibility on average. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

Before you rely on this for one address

Arlington County's reading is an average across the whole county, not a promise about any one lot inside it. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in Arlington County.

Budgeting for Arlington County, VA

Arlington County's soil reading points toward standard foundation practice as the likely outcome, not the exception. A geotechnical report runs $1,000-$5,000, typically around $2,700. Foundation repair, if a specific lot turns out to differ from the county average, runs $5,000-$15,000.

How Arlington County, VA compares

Among the 3,085 rated counties on this site, Arlington County, VA ranks 2,492 most-constrained nationally, and 110 of 114 within Virginia. Arlington County covers 26 square miles and counts 239,807 residents.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Winston County, MS and Knox County, ME are worth a look for comparison.

How this reading is built, and its real limits · Moisture management: the cheap fix that works on any soil

Elsewhere in Virginia

Every county in Virginia is on this site, including Manassas Park city, VA and Lynchburg city, VA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.