Morris County, NJ Shrink-Swell Risk

What Morris County, NJ's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Morris County, NJ's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.73% across 90% 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 Morris County, NJ at once, not any single address. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Morris County, NJ 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.

Morris County's rank among New Jersey counties

Nationally, Morris County, NJ is the 2,243-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within New Jersey alone it ranks 3 of 21. Morris County covers 461 square miles and counts 523,053 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Casey County, KY and Dent 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 New Jersey

Every county in New Jersey is on this site, including Camden County, NJ and Union County, NJ. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.