Hopkins County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk
Hopkins County, TX's soil, for shrink-swell risk
High
Hopkins County, TX: USDA's soil survey rates 55.5% of the county "High" for shrink-swell potential (6.09% linear extensibility). Soil at this level can crack a standard foundation without moisture-control measures - consistent watering near the foundation, correct grading, root barriers - or added structural design.
What Hopkins County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in Hopkins County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. 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 Hopkins County.
What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it
Hopkins County's soil reading is exactly the case where a report before construction, or before cracks widen, pays for itself. The report ($1,000-$5,000) is what tells you whether Hopkins County's county-level reading applies to your lot; the repair ($5,000-$15,000) is what it costs if you skip that and find out from the cracks instead.
How Hopkins County, TX compares
Nationally, Hopkins County, TX is the 118-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Texas alone it ranks 42 of 253. Hopkins County covers 767 square miles and counts 38,784 residents.
Before you act on this
Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Yankton County, SD and Hoke County, NC are worth a look for comparison.
How this reading is built, and its real limits · The warning signs of expansive-clay damage, explained
More of Texas
Every county in Texas is on this site, including San Jacinto County, TX and Atascosa County, TX. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.