Benton County, MS Shrink-Swell Risk

Benton County, MS's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Benton County, MS: USDA's soil survey rates 95.8% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.44% linear extensibility). That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

What Benton County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Benton County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. 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 Benton County.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Benton County, MS 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.

Benton County's rank among Mississippi counties

Nationally, Benton County, MS is the 2,578-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Mississippi alone it ranks 74 of 82. Benton County covers 407 square miles and counts 7,566 residents.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Schoolcraft County, MI and Warren County, TN 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 Mississippi

Every county in Mississippi is on this site, including Rankin County, MS and Yalobusha County, MS. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.