Marshall County, WV Shrink-Swell Risk
Marshall County's SSURGO shrink-swell reading
Low
In Marshall County, WV, 79.8% of the surveyed soil carries a "Low" shrink-swell rating, 2.69% linear extensibility on average. 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.
Before you rely on this for one address
Marshall County's reading is an average across the whole county, not a promise about any one lot inside it. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).
Budgeting for Marshall County, WV
Marshall County's soil reading points toward standard foundation practice as the likely outcome, not the exception. 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
Among the 3,085 rated counties on this site, Marshall County, WV ranks 1,422 most-constrained nationally, and 18 of 55 within West Virginia. Marshall County covers 305 square miles and counts 29,354 residents.
See how another county compares
Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Caribou County, ID and Hillsborough County, FL 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
Elsewhere in West Virginia
Every county in West Virginia is on this site, including Tyler County, WV and Grant County, WV. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.