Hempstead County, AR Shrink-Swell Risk

What Hempstead County, AR's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Hempstead County, AR's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 4.75% across 39.2% of the county's surveyed land. Conventional foundations are the reasonable expectation here, with routine moisture-control practice rather than special engineering.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Hempstead County, AR 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 Hempstead County, AR 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.

How Hempstead County, AR compares

Nationally, Hempstead County, AR is the 335-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Arkansas alone it ranks 16 of 75. Hempstead County, AR is 727 square miles with a population of 19,105.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Banks County, GA and Crawford County, OH 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 Arkansas

Every county in Arkansas is on this site, including Izard County, AR and Independence County, AR. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.