Highlands County, FL Shrink-Swell Risk

Highlands County, FL's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Highlands County, FL: USDA's soil survey rates 97.7% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (0.59% 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 Highlands County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Highlands 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 Highlands County will actually do.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Highlands County, FL 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 Highlands County, FL compares

Nationally, Highlands County, FL is the 3,038-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Florida alone it ranks 55 of 66. Highlands County covers 1,018 square miles and counts 109,778 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Elbert County, GA and Howard County, IN 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 Florida

Every county in Florida is on this site, including Calhoun County, FL and Gulf County, FL. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.