Cass County, ND Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Cass County, ND's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 5.15% across 39.8% 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 Cass County, ND 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 Cass County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Cass County, ND 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.

How Cass County, ND compares

Nationally, Cass County, ND is the 266-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within North Dakota alone it ranks 1 of 53. Cass County, ND is 1,765 square miles with a population of 200,945.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Johnson County, NE and Daggett County, UT 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 North Dakota

Every county in North Dakota is on this site, including Sioux County, ND and Ward County, ND. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.