La Paz County, AZ Shrink-Swell Risk
La Paz County, AZ's soil, for shrink-swell risk
Low
La Paz County, AZ: USDA's soil survey rates 96.7% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (0.81% linear extensibility). 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.
What La Paz County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in La Paz 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 La Paz County, AZ 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.
How La Paz County, AZ compares
Nationally, La Paz County, AZ is the 2,983-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Arizona alone it ranks 15 of 15. La Paz County covers 4,497 square miles and counts 16,992 residents.
Before you act on this
Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Dorchester County, MD and Knox County, TN 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 Arizona
Every county in Arizona is on this site, including Cochise County, AZ and Coconino County, AZ. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.