Los Angeles County, CA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Los Angeles County, CA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Los Angeles County, CA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.81% across 61.7% 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 Los Angeles County, CA 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 Los Angeles County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Los Angeles County, CA 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.

How Los Angeles County, CA compares

Nationally, Los Angeles County, CA is the 1,335-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within California alone it ranks 31 of 58. Los Angeles County covers 4,060 square miles and counts 9,757,179 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Greene County, IN and Hudson County, NJ 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 California

Every county in California is on this site, including Imperial County, CA and Lake County, CA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.