Barry County, MI Shrink-Swell Risk

What Barry County, MI's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Barry County, MI's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.44% across 98% 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 Barry County, MI 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 Barry County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Barry 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.

How Barry County, MI compares

Nationally, Barry County, MI is the 2,574-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Michigan alone it ranks 40 of 83. Barry County, MI is 553 square miles with a population of 64,025.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Yell County, AR and Aroostook 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

More of Michigan

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