Benton County, WA Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Low

Benton County, WA: USDA's soil survey rates 100% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.5% 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. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Benton County, WA 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 Washington counties

Nationally, Benton County, WA is the 2,494-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Washington alone it ranks 31 of 39. The county spans 1,700 square miles, home to 218,190 people.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Peoria County, IL and Marquette County, WI 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 Washington

Every county in Washington is on this site, including Lincoln County, WA and King County, WA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.