Lincoln County, NM Shrink-Swell Risk

What Lincoln County, NM's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Lincoln County, NM's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.19% across 74.4% of the county's surveyed land. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Lincoln County, NM at once, not any single address. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Lincoln County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Lincoln County, NM 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, Lincoln County, NM is the 1,814-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within New Mexico alone it ranks 29 of 32. Lincoln County covers 4,831 square miles and counts 20,025 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Charles Mix County, SD and Martin County, KY 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 New Mexico

Every county in New Mexico is on this site, including Sierra County, NM and Eddy County, NM. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.