Cass County, MI Shrink-Swell Risk

What Cass County, MI's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Cass County, MI's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.29% across 92.8% 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 Cass County, MI 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 Cass County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Cass County, MI 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 Cass County, MI compares

Nationally, Cass County, MI is the 2,709-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Michigan alone it ranks 49 of 83. Cass County covers 490 square miles and counts 51,550 residents.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Bronx County, NY and Logan County, ND 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 Michigan

Every county in Michigan is on this site, including Branch County, MI and Emmet County, MI. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.