Middlesex County, MA Shrink-Swell Risk

Middlesex County's SSURGO shrink-swell reading

Low

In Middlesex County, MA, 100% of the surveyed soil carries a "Low" shrink-swell rating, 0.69% linear extensibility on average. That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

Before you rely on this for one address

Middlesex County's reading is an average across the whole county, not a promise about any one lot inside it. 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 Middlesex County.

Budgeting for Middlesex County, MA

Middlesex 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, Middlesex County, MA ranks 3,017 most-constrained nationally, and 8 of 14 within Massachusetts. Middlesex County, MA is 818 square miles with a population of 1,668,956.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Livingston Parish, LA and Barren County, KY 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 Massachusetts

Every county in Massachusetts is on this site, including Berkshire County, MA and Nantucket County, MA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.