Madison County, AR Shrink-Swell Risk

Madison County, AR's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Madison County, AR: USDA's soil survey rates 57.9% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (2.67% 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 Madison County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Madison County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Madison County, AR 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, Madison County, AR is the 1,438-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Arkansas alone it ranks 42 of 75. Madison County, AR is 834 square miles with a population of 17,865.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Nassau County, FL and Nodaway County, MO 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 Arkansas

Every county in Arkansas is on this site, including Faulkner County, AR and Carroll County, AR. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.