Pottawatomie County, KS Shrink-Swell Risk

What Pottawatomie County, KS's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Pottawatomie County, KS's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 5.21% across 69.8% of the county's surveyed land. That's a middle reading: not the sharp swings that crack a foundation outright, but enough that grading and drainage are worth getting right.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Pottawatomie County, KS 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 Pottawatomie County, KS rating "Moderate", 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.

Pottawatomie County's rank among Kansas counties

Nationally, Pottawatomie County, KS is the 252-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Kansas alone it ranks 41 of 105. Pottawatomie County covers 841 square miles and counts 26,876 residents.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Lawrence County, AR and Custer County, OK 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 Kansas

Every county in Kansas is on this site, including Wilson County, KS and Stafford County, KS. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.