Carver County, MN Shrink-Swell Risk

What Carver County, MN's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Carver County, MN's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.22% across 71.9% of the county's surveyed land. That's a middle reading: not the sharp swings that crack a foundation outright, but enough that grading and drainage are worth getting right.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Carver County, MN at once, not any single address. 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 Carver County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Carver County, MN rating "Moderate", 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.

Carver County's rank among Minnesota counties

Nationally, Carver County, MN is the 1,032-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Minnesota alone it ranks 26 of 87. Carver County covers 354 square miles and counts 112,628 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Winnebago County, IL and Boundary County, ID 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 Douglas County, MN and Wilkin County, MN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.