Northumberland County, PA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Northumberland County, PA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Northumberland County, PA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.49% across 92% of the county's surveyed land. That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Northumberland County, PA at once, not any single address. 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 Northumberland County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Northumberland County, PA 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, Northumberland County, PA is the 2,515-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Pennsylvania alone it ranks 36 of 67. Northumberland County, PA is 458 square miles with a population of 90,027.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Columbia County, PA and Lucas County, OH 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 Pennsylvania

Every county in Pennsylvania is on this site, including Lawrence County, PA and Warren County, PA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.