Jefferson County, FL Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Low

Jefferson County, FL: USDA's soil survey rates 99.3% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.24% 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 Jefferson County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Jefferson County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Jefferson 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.

Jefferson County's rank among Florida counties

Nationally, Jefferson County, FL is the 2,746-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Florida alone it ranks 19 of 66. Jefferson County, FL is 598 square miles with a population of 15,921.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Saline County, MO and Grant County, WA 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 Putnam County, FL and Nassau County, FL. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.