Pinellas County, FL Shrink-Swell Risk

What Pinellas County, FL's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Pinellas County, FL's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.32% across 100% 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 Pinellas County, FL 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 Pinellas County, FL 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.

Pinellas County's rank among Florida counties

Nationally, Pinellas County, FL is the 2,681-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Florida alone it ranks 17 of 66. Pinellas County covers 274 square miles and counts 965,870 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Greene County, IA and Clinton County, NY 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 Florida

Every county in Florida is on this site, including Hernando County, FL and Baker County, FL. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.