Jefferson County, WI Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Jefferson County, WI's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.3% across 79.6% of the county's surveyed land. That's the easiest starting point on this site's scale - a standard foundation is the reasonable default here, though any one lot can still differ.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Jefferson County, WI 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, WI 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Jefferson County, WI is the 1,721-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Wisconsin alone it ranks 29 of 72. Jefferson County, WI is 556 square miles with a population of 86,245.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Otter Tail County, MN and Walworth County, SD 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 Wisconsin

Every county in Wisconsin is on this site, including Winnebago County, WI and Trempealeau County, WI. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.