Lake County, IL Shrink-Swell Risk

Lake County, IL's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Moderate

Lake County, IL: USDA's soil survey rates 51.8% of the county "Moderate" for shrink-swell potential (3.48% linear extensibility). A real but modest amount of movement - standard foundations usually hold up, but drainage and moisture control around the foundation still matter more than on low-risk soil.

What Lake County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Lake 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 Lake County, IL 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.

Lake County's rank among Illinois counties

Nationally, Lake County, IL is the 853-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Illinois alone it ranks 65 of 101. Lake County, IL is 444 square miles with a population of 718,604.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Sussex County, DE and Conejos County, CO 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 Illinois

Every county in Illinois is on this site, including Henry County, IL and Kankakee County, IL. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.