Erie County, NY Shrink-Swell Risk

What Erie County, NY's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Erie County, NY's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.23% across 77% of the county's surveyed land. That's the easiest starting point on this site's scale - a standard foundation is the reasonable default here, though any one lot can still differ.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Erie County, NY 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 Erie County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Erie County, NY 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, Erie County, NY is the 1,769-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within New York alone it ranks 6 of 62. The county spans 1,043 square miles, home to 950,602 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Wilcox County, AL and Orange County, VA 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 New York

Every county in New York is on this site, including Kings County, NY. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.