Franklin County, PA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Franklin County, PA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Franklin County, PA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.07% across 75.8% of the county's surveyed land. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Franklin County, PA 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 Franklin County, PA 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.

How Franklin County, PA compares

Nationally, Franklin County, PA is the 1,910-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Pennsylvania alone it ranks 5 of 67. Franklin County covers 772 square miles and counts 159,285 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Clay County, IA and Pierce County, NE 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 Pennsylvania

Every county in Pennsylvania is on this site, including Fayette County, PA and Union County, PA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.