Dallas County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk

Dallas County's SSURGO shrink-swell reading

Very High

In Dallas County, TX, 44.7% of the surveyed soil carries a "Very High" shrink-swell rating, 9.1% linear extensibility on average. Ground that moves this much routinely produces the classic expansive-soil symptoms: diagonal stair-step cracking, doors that stick seasonally, uneven floors. A standard footing is a poor bet here.

Before you rely on this for one address

Dallas County's reading is an average across the whole county, not a promise about any one lot inside it. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Dallas County will actually do.

Budgeting for Dallas County, TX

Given Dallas County's rating, spending a few thousand now is the way to avoid spending tens of thousands later. A geotechnical report runs $1,000-$5,000 (typically $2,700); an actual foundation repair, once cracking sets in, typically runs $5,000-$15,000 (around $10,000 typical) - roughly 4x the report.

Dallas County's rank among Texas counties

Among the 3,085 rated counties on this site, Dallas County, TX ranks 40 most-constrained nationally, and 6 of 253 within Texas. Dallas County, TX is 873 square miles with a population of 2,656,028.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Guernsey County, OH and Newton County, GA are worth a look for comparison.

How this reading is built, and its real limits · The warning signs of expansive-clay damage, explained

Elsewhere in Texas

Every county in Texas is on this site, including Titus County, TX and Jones County, TX. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.