Chippewa County, MN Shrink-Swell Risk

Chippewa County, MN's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Moderate

Chippewa County, MN: USDA's soil survey rates 57.7% of the county "Moderate" for shrink-swell potential (3.22% linear extensibility). That's a middle reading: not the sharp swings that crack a foundation outright, but enough that grading and drainage are worth getting right.

What Chippewa County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Chippewa County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. 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 Chippewa County.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Chippewa 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.

How Chippewa County, MN compares

Nationally, Chippewa County, MN is the 1,036-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Minnesota alone it ranks 28 of 87. Chippewa County, MN is 581 square miles with a population of 12,299.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Baxter County, AR and Marion County, KS 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 Lincoln County, MN and Blue Earth County, MN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.