Ransom County, ND Shrink-Swell Risk

What Ransom County, ND's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Ransom County, ND's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.32% across 77.8% 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 Ransom County, ND at once, not any single address. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Ransom County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Ransom County, ND 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.

How Ransom County, ND compares

Nationally, Ransom County, ND is the 1,715-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within North Dakota alone it ranks 48 of 53. Ransom County, ND is 862 square miles with a population of 5,590.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Saratoga County, NY and Newton County, MS 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 Dakota

Every county in North Dakota is on this site, including Slope County, ND and Wells County, ND. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.