Lake County, SD Shrink-Swell Risk

What Lake County, SD's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Lake County, SD's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 4.88% across 75.9% of the county's surveyed land. Conventional foundations are the reasonable expectation here, with routine moisture-control practice rather than special engineering.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Lake County, SD at once, not any single address. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in Lake County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Lake County, SD 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Lake County, SD is the 313-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within South Dakota alone it ranks 21 of 66. Lake County, SD is 563 square miles with a population of 11,006.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Hillsborough County, NH and Lamb County, TX 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 South Dakota

Every county in South Dakota is on this site, including Todd County, SD and Brule County, SD. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.