Jackson County, SD Shrink-Swell Risk

What Jackson County, SD's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Jackson County, SD's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 5.79% across 35.3% of the county's surveyed land. Conventional foundations are the reasonable expectation here, with routine moisture-control practice rather than special engineering.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Jackson County, SD 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 Jackson County, SD 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.

Jackson County's rank among South Dakota counties

Nationally, Jackson County, SD is the 162-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within South Dakota alone it ranks 13 of 66. Jackson County, SD is 1,864 square miles with a population of 2,737.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Decatur County, IA and Lunenburg County, VA 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 South Dakota

Every county in South Dakota is on this site, including Aurora County, SD and Hyde County, SD. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.