Buffalo County, NE Shrink-Swell Risk

Buffalo County, NE's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Buffalo County, NE: USDA's soil survey rates 72.1% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (2.69% 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 Buffalo County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Buffalo 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 Buffalo County, NE 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Buffalo County, NE is the 1,420-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Nebraska alone it ranks 49 of 93. Buffalo County covers 968 square miles and counts 51,156 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Tom Green County, TX and Clark County, NV 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 Nebraska

Every county in Nebraska is on this site, including Adams County, NE and Boyd County, NE. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.