Howard County, IN Shrink-Swell Risk

What Howard County, IN's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Howard County, IN's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.62% across 67.9% of the county's surveyed land. A real but modest amount of movement - standard foundations usually hold up, but drainage and moisture control around the foundation still matter more than on low-risk soil.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Howard County, IN 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 Howard County, IN 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.

Howard County's rank among Indiana counties

Nationally, Howard County, IN is the 772-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Indiana alone it ranks 16 of 90. Howard County covers 293 square miles and counts 84,082 residents.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Major County, OK and Skagway Municipality, AK 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 Indiana

Every county in Indiana is on this site, including Benton County, IN and Harrison County, IN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.