Carlton County, MN Shrink-Swell Risk

Carlton County, MN's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Carlton County, MN: USDA's soil survey rates 78.2% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.85% linear extensibility). 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.

What Carlton County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Carlton County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in Carlton County.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Carlton County, MN 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 Carlton County, MN compares

Nationally, Carlton County, MN is the 2,121-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Minnesota alone it ranks 65 of 87. Carlton County covers 861 square miles and counts 36,745 residents.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Kimball County, NE and Person County, NC 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 Minnesota

Every county in Minnesota is on this site, including Steele County, MN and Dodge County, MN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.