Lancaster County, PA Shrink-Swell Risk

Lancaster County, PA's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Lancaster County, PA: USDA's soil survey rates 80.7% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (2.12% 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 Lancaster County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Lancaster County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Lancaster County will actually do.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Lancaster County, PA 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, Lancaster County, PA is the 1,867-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Pennsylvania alone it ranks 4 of 67. Lancaster County, PA is 944 square miles with a population of 563,293.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Pulaski County, IL and Fulton County, NY 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 Pennsylvania

Every county in Pennsylvania is on this site, including McKean County, PA and Union County, PA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.