Pamlico County, NC Shrink-Swell Risk
Pamlico County, NC's soil, for shrink-swell risk
Low
Pamlico County, NC: USDA's soil survey rates 85.5% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.94% linear extensibility). 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.
What Pamlico County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in Pamlico County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).
What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it
With Pamlico County, NC 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, Pamlico County, NC is the 2,041-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within North Carolina alone it ranks 39 of 100. Pamlico County, NC is 337 square miles with a population of 12,550.
See how another county compares
Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Dallas County, IA and Ray 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 North Carolina
Every county in North Carolina is on this site, including Bertie County, NC and Pitt County, NC. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.