Centre County, PA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Centre County, PA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Centre County, PA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.83% across 87.8% of the county's surveyed land. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Centre County, PA 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 Centre County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Centre County, PA 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 Centre County, PA compares

Nationally, Centre County, PA is the 2,133-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Pennsylvania alone it ranks 12 of 67. The county spans 1,107 square miles, home to 159,805 people.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Transylvania County, NC and Somervell County, TX 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 Pennsylvania

Every county in Pennsylvania is on this site, including Potter County, PA and Butler County, PA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.