Baraga County, MI Shrink-Swell Risk

Baraga County, MI's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Baraga County, MI: USDA's soil survey rates 98.3% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (0.46% linear extensibility). That's the easiest starting point on this site's scale - a standard foundation is the reasonable default here, though any one lot can still differ.

What Baraga County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Baraga County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Baraga County will actually do.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Baraga County, MI 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Baraga County, MI is the 3,054-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Michigan alone it ranks 77 of 83. The county spans 898 square miles, home to 8,169 people.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Millard County, UT and Kern County, CA 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 Michigan

Every county in Michigan is on this site, including Lake County, MI and Wexford County, MI. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.