Burleigh County, ND Shrink-Swell Risk

What Burleigh County, ND's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Burleigh County, ND's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.98% across 56.3% 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 Burleigh County, ND at once, not any single address. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Burleigh County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Burleigh County, ND 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, Burleigh County, ND is the 1,208-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within North Dakota alone it ranks 35 of 53. Burleigh County covers 1,633 square miles and counts 103,107 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Cassia County, ID and Bandera County, TX 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 North Dakota

Every county in North Dakota is on this site, including Mercer County, ND and Adams County, ND. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.