Rice County, KS Shrink-Swell Risk

Rice County's SSURGO shrink-swell reading

Moderate

In Rice County, KS, 41.7% of the surveyed soil carries a "Moderate" shrink-swell rating, 4.02% linear extensibility on average. That's a middle reading: not the sharp swings that crack a foundation outright, but enough that grading and drainage are worth getting right.

Before you rely on this for one address

Rice County's reading is an average across the whole county, not a promise about any one lot inside it. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Rice County will actually do.

Budgeting for Rice County, KS

Rice County's soil reading points toward standard foundation practice as the likely outcome, not the exception. 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.

Where this sits nationally

Among the 3,085 rated counties on this site, Rice County, KS ranks 555 most-constrained nationally, and 55 of 105 within Kansas. Rice County, KS is 726 square miles with a population of 9,284.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Doddridge County, WV and Wright County, MO 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

Elsewhere in Kansas

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