Atlantic County, NJ Shrink-Swell Risk

What Atlantic County, NJ's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Atlantic County, NJ's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 0.88% across 100% of the county's surveyed land. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Atlantic County, NJ at once, not any single address. 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 Atlantic County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Atlantic County, NJ rating "Low", a geotechnical report is still worthwhile before a build, just less urgent than in a high-risk county. 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 Atlantic County, NJ compares

Nationally, Atlantic County, NJ is the 2,948-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within New Jersey alone it ranks 18 of 21. The county spans 556 square miles, home to 279,114 people.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. DeKalb County, AL and Carroll County, IL 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

More of New Jersey

Every county in New Jersey is on this site, including Hudson County, NJ and Essex County, NJ. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.