Bay County, MI Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Bay County, MI's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.03% across 99.9% of the county's surveyed land. 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.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Bay 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 Bay County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Bay 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 Bay County, MI compares

Nationally, Bay County, MI is the 2,881-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Michigan alone it ranks 64 of 83. The county spans 442 square miles, home to 102,651 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Jones County, SD and Coconino County, AZ 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 Kalkaska County, MI and Mackinac County, MI. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.