Passaic County, NJ Shrink-Swell Risk
Passaic County, NJ's soil, for shrink-swell risk
Low
Passaic County, NJ: USDA's soil survey rates 98.5% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.37% linear extensibility). Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.
What Passaic County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in Passaic 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 Passaic 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.
Where this sits nationally
Nationally, Passaic County, NJ is the 2,631-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within New Jersey alone it ranks 11 of 21. Passaic County covers 186 square miles and counts 526,597 residents.
For contrast
Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Richland County, WI and Morgan 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 New Jersey
Every county in New Jersey is on this site, including Warren County, NJ and Bergen County, NJ. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.