Cedar County, NE Shrink-Swell Risk

What Cedar County, NE's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Cedar County, NE's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.08% across 60.3% 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 Cedar County, NE at once, not any single address. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Cedar County, NE 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.

Cedar County's rank among Nebraska counties

Nationally, Cedar County, NE is the 1,133-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Nebraska alone it ranks 39 of 93. Cedar County covers 740 square miles and counts 8,262 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Brevard County, FL and Caswell 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 Nebraska

Every county in Nebraska is on this site, including Madison County, NE and Stanton County, NE. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.