Otter Tail County, MN Shrink-Swell Risk

What Otter Tail County, MN's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Otter Tail County, MN's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.91% across 81.3% of the county's surveyed land. That's the easiest starting point on this site's scale - a standard foundation is the reasonable default here, though any one lot can still differ.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Otter Tail County, MN 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 Otter Tail County, MN 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 Otter Tail County, MN compares

Nationally, Otter Tail County, MN is the 2,060-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Minnesota alone it ranks 63 of 87. Otter Tail County, MN is 1,972 square miles with a population of 60,884.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Hampshire County, WV and Ozark 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 Minnesota

Every county in Minnesota is on this site, including Grant County, MN and Hubbard County, MN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.