Mahnomen County, MN Shrink-Swell Risk

What Mahnomen County, MN's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Mahnomen County, MN's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.89% across 58.2% 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 Mahnomen County, MN 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 Mahnomen County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Mahnomen County, MN 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 Mahnomen County, MN compares

Nationally, Mahnomen County, MN is the 1,272-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Minnesota alone it ranks 43 of 87. Mahnomen County, MN is 558 square miles with a population of 5,296.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Franklin County, VA and Sully County, SD 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 Minnesota

Every county in Minnesota is on this site, including Morrison County, MN and Kittson County, MN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.