Mille Lacs County, MN Shrink-Swell Risk
Mille Lacs County, MN's soil, for shrink-swell risk
Low
Mille Lacs County, MN: USDA's soil survey rates 95% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.41% linear extensibility). 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.
What Mille Lacs County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in Mille Lacs County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Mille Lacs County will actually do.
What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it
With Mille Lacs County, MN 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, Mille Lacs County, MN is the 2,609-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Minnesota alone it ranks 78 of 87. Mille Lacs County covers 572 square miles and counts 27,577 residents.
See how another county compares
Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Inyo County, CA and Clark County, AR 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 Minnesota
Every county in Minnesota is on this site, including Big Stone County, MN and Crow Wing County, MN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.