Hot Springs County, WY Shrink-Swell Risk
Hot Springs County, WY's soil, for shrink-swell risk
Low
Hot Springs County, WY: USDA's soil survey rates 71.6% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (2.56% linear extensibility). That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.
What Hot Springs County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in Hot Springs 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 Hot Springs County will actually do.
What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it
With Hot Springs County, WY 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 Hot Springs County, WY compares
Nationally, Hot Springs County, WY is the 1,509-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Wyoming alone it ranks 13 of 23. Hot Springs County covers 2,004 square miles and counts 4,625 residents.
See how another county compares
Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Cumberland County, ME and Kidder County, ND 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 Wyoming
Every county in Wyoming is on this site, including Carbon County, WY and Teton County, WY. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.