Harper County, KS Shrink-Swell Risk

What Harper County, KS's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Harper County, KS's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.9% across 48.2% 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 Harper County, KS 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 Harper County, KS 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.

Harper County's rank among Kansas counties

Nationally, Harper County, KS is the 1,265-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Kansas alone it ranks 79 of 105. The county spans 801 square miles, home to 5,413 people.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Gibson County, IN and Mingo County, WV 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 Kansas

Every county in Kansas is on this site, including Ford County, KS and Pratt County, KS. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.