Milwaukee County, WI Shrink-Swell Risk

Milwaukee County, WI's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Moderate

Milwaukee County, WI: USDA's soil survey rates 51.2% of the county "Moderate" for shrink-swell potential (3.32% linear extensibility). That's a middle reading: not the sharp swings that crack a foundation outright, but enough that grading and drainage are worth getting right.

What Milwaukee County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Milwaukee County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Milwaukee County, WI rating "Moderate", 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.

How Milwaukee County, WI compares

Nationally, Milwaukee County, WI is the 958-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Wisconsin alone it ranks 9 of 72. Milwaukee County covers 241 square miles and counts 924,740 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Ashe County, NC and Miller County, MO 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 Wisconsin

Every county in Wisconsin is on this site, including Adams County, WI and Fond du Lac County, WI. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.