Benton County, TN Shrink-Swell Risk

What Benton County, TN's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Benton County, TN's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.41% across 98.9% 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 Benton County, TN 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 Benton County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Benton County, TN 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 Tennessee counties

Nationally, Benton County, TN is the 2,612-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Tennessee alone it ranks 85 of 95. Benton County covers 394 square miles and counts 16,173 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Scott County, IL and Oakland County, MI 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 Tennessee

Every county in Tennessee is on this site, including Morgan County, TN and Lake County, TN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.