Hennepin County, MN Shrink-Swell Risk

Hennepin County, MN's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Hennepin County, MN: USDA's soil survey rates 55.7% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (2.7% linear extensibility). 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.

What Hennepin County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Hennepin County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Hennepin County will actually do.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Hennepin County, MN 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, Hennepin County, MN is the 1,403-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Minnesota alone it ranks 50 of 87. Hennepin County, MN is 554 square miles with a population of 1,273,334.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Mercer County, MO and Monroe County, GA 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 Minnesota

Every county in Minnesota is on this site, including Becker County, MN and Waseca County, MN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.