Butler County, IA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Butler County, IA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Butler County, IA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.89% across 57.6% 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 Butler County, IA 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 Butler County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Butler County, IA 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.

Butler County's rank among Iowa counties

Nationally, Butler County, IA is the 1,271-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Iowa alone it ranks 91 of 99. Butler County covers 580 square miles and counts 14,156 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Clayton County, IA and Ottawa 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 Iowa

Every county in Iowa is on this site, including Fayette County, IA and O'Brien County, IA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.