Marquette County, MI Shrink-Swell Risk

What Marquette County, MI's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Marquette County, MI's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 0.28% across 100% of the county's surveyed land. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Marquette County, MI 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 Marquette County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Marquette County, MI 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, Marquette County, MI is the 3,073-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Michigan alone it ranks 81 of 83. The county spans 1,809 square miles, home to 67,979 people.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Allen County, KS and Morgan County, AL 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 Michigan

Every county in Michigan is on this site, including Grand Traverse County, MI and Barry County, MI. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.