Douglas County, NE Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Douglas County, NE's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.24% across 49.1% of the county's surveyed land. A real but modest amount of movement - standard foundations usually hold up, but drainage and moisture control around the foundation still matter more than on low-risk soil.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Douglas County, NE at once, not any single address. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Douglas County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Douglas 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.

Douglas County's rank among Nebraska counties

Nationally, Douglas County, NE is the 1,018-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Nebraska alone it ranks 38 of 93. The county spans 327 square miles, home to 601,158 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Pinellas County, FL and Oklahoma County, OK 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 Merrick County, NE and Garden County, NE. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.