Cameron County, PA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Cameron County, PA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Cameron County, PA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.46% across 96.5% of the county's surveyed land. That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Cameron County, PA 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 Cameron County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Cameron County, PA 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.

How Cameron County, PA compares

Nationally, Cameron County, PA is the 2,562-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Pennsylvania alone it ranks 40 of 67. Cameron County, PA is 396 square miles with a population of 4,348.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Culpeper County, VA and Marathon 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 Pennsylvania

Every county in Pennsylvania is on this site, including York County, PA and Adams County, PA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.