Renville County, MN Shrink-Swell Risk

What Renville County, MN's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Renville County, MN's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.55% across 53.9% 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 Renville County, MN 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 Renville County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Renville County, MN 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.

Renville County's rank among Minnesota counties

Nationally, Renville County, MN is the 809-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Minnesota alone it ranks 15 of 87. Renville County covers 983 square miles and counts 14,453 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Muscatine County, IA and Kauai County, HI 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 Minnesota

Every county in Minnesota is on this site, including Itasca County, MN and Clearwater County, MN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.