Lancaster County, NE Shrink-Swell Risk

What Lancaster County, NE's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Lancaster County, NE's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 5.71% across 60.4% of the county's surveyed land. That's a middle reading: not the sharp swings that crack a foundation outright, but enough that grading and drainage are worth getting right.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Lancaster County, NE at once, not any single address. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Lancaster County, NE 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, Lancaster County, NE is the 181-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Nebraska alone it ranks 7 of 93. Lancaster County, NE is 838 square miles with a population of 332,857.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Cass County, IN and Roger Mills County, OK 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 Nebraska

Every county in Nebraska is on this site, including Greeley County, NE and Saline County, NE. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.