Monroe County, KY Shrink-Swell Risk

What Monroe County, KY's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Monroe County, KY's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.77% across 90.4% of the county's surveyed land. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Monroe County, KY 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 Monroe County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Monroe County, KY 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.

Monroe County's rank among Kentucky counties

Nationally, Monroe County, KY is the 2,198-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Kentucky alone it ranks 96 of 120. The county spans 329 square miles, home to 11,163 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Collier County, FL and Howard County, IA 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 Kentucky

Every county in Kentucky is on this site, including Carter County, KY and Butler County, KY. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.