Dawson County, GA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Dawson County, GA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Dawson County, GA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.49% across 98.6% of the county's surveyed land. That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Dawson County, GA 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 Dawson County, GA 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Dawson County, GA is the 2,522-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Georgia alone it ranks 90 of 159. Dawson County, GA is 211 square miles with a population of 33,748.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Swisher County, TX and Outagamie County, WI 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 Georgia

Every county in Georgia is on this site, including Bleckley County, GA and Floyd County, GA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.