Marion County, KS Shrink-Swell Risk

What Marion County, KS's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Marion County, KS's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 5.73% across 46% of the county's surveyed land. Conventional foundations are the reasonable expectation here, with routine moisture-control practice rather than special engineering.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Marion County, KS at once, not any single address. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Marion County, KS rating "Moderate", 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, Marion County, KS is the 175-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Kansas alone it ranks 28 of 105. Marion County, KS is 944 square miles with a population of 11,670.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Concordia Parish, LA and Clark County, KS 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 Kansas

Every county in Kansas is on this site, including Barton County, KS and Grant County, KS. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.