Harris County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk

Harris County's SSURGO shrink-swell reading

Moderate

In Harris County, TX, 58.7% of the surveyed soil carries a "Moderate" shrink-swell rating, 4.5% linear extensibility on average. That's a middle reading: not the sharp swings that crack a foundation outright, but enough that grading and drainage are worth getting right.

Before you rely on this for one address

Harris County's reading is an average across the whole county, not a promise about any one lot inside it. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in Harris County.

Budgeting for Harris County, TX

Harris County's soil reading points toward standard foundation practice as the likely outcome, not the exception. 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

Among the 3,085 rated counties on this site, Harris County, TX ranks 386 most-constrained nationally, and 96 of 253 within Texas. Harris County covers 1,707 square miles and counts 5,009,302 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Franklin County, NE and Orangeburg County, SC 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

Elsewhere in Texas

Every county in Texas is on this site, including La Salle County, TX and Sutton County, TX. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.