Oakland County, MI Shrink-Swell Risk

What Oakland County, MI's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Oakland County, MI's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.82% across 87.9% 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 Oakland County, MI 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 Oakland County, MI 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.

How Oakland County, MI compares

Nationally, Oakland County, MI is the 2,142-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Michigan alone it ranks 22 of 83. The county spans 867 square miles, home to 1,296,888 people.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Delta County, MI and Jasper County, TX 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 Michigan

Every county in Michigan is on this site, including Lapeer County, MI and Barry County, MI. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.