McCormick County, SC Shrink-Swell Risk

What McCormick County, SC's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts McCormick County, SC's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.35% across 79.9% of the county's surveyed land. 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.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of McCormick County, SC at once, not any single address. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in McCormick County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With McCormick County, SC 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.

McCormick County's rank among South Carolina counties

Nationally, McCormick County, SC is the 1,690-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within South Carolina alone it ranks 11 of 46. McCormick County, SC is 359 square miles with a population of 9,983.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Armstrong County, TX and Silver Bow County, MT 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 South Carolina

Every county in South Carolina is on this site, including York County, SC and Lexington County, SC. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.