Madison County, NY Shrink-Swell Risk

What Madison County, NY's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Madison County, NY's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.56% across 94.5% of the county's surveyed land. That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Madison County, NY 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 Madison County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Madison County, NY 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 Madison County, NY compares

Nationally, Madison County, NY is the 2,428-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within New York alone it ranks 21 of 62. Madison County covers 655 square miles and counts 67,072 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Carson County, TX and Taos County, NM 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 York

Every county in New York is on this site, including Clinton County, NY and Steuben County, NY. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.