Madera County, CA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Madera County, CA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Madera County, CA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.01% across 82.3% of the county's surveyed land. 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.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Madera County, CA 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 Madera County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Madera 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.

Madera County's rank among California counties

Nationally, Madera County, CA is the 1,971-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within California alone it ranks 48 of 58. The county spans 2,137 square miles, home to 165,432 people.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Prince William County, VA and Scott County, TN 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 Tehama County, CA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.