Jefferson County, MS Shrink-Swell Risk

What Jefferson County, MS's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Jefferson County, MS's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.6% across 85.9% of the county's surveyed land. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Jefferson County, MS at once, not any single address. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Jefferson County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Jefferson County, MS 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 Mississippi counties

Nationally, Jefferson County, MS is the 1,481-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Mississippi alone it ranks 34 of 82. Jefferson County covers 520 square miles and counts 6,900 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Washakie County, WY and Appling County, GA 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 Mississippi

Every county in Mississippi is on this site, including Attala County, MS and Calhoun County, MS. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.