Racine County, WI Shrink-Swell Risk

What Racine County, WI's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Racine County, WI's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.49% across 45.9% 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 Racine County, WI 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 Racine County, WI 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.

How Racine County, WI compares

Nationally, Racine County, WI is the 849-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Wisconsin alone it ranks 5 of 72. Racine County covers 333 square miles and counts 198,651 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Adams County, NE and Emery County, UT 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 Wisconsin

Every county in Wisconsin is on this site, including Pierce County, WI and Iron County, WI. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.