Rutland County, VT Shrink-Swell Risk
Rutland County, VT's soil, for shrink-swell risk
Low
Rutland County, VT: USDA's soil survey rates 95.6% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.41% linear extensibility). 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.
What Rutland County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in Rutland County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).
What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it
With Rutland County, VT 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.
Where this sits nationally
Nationally, Rutland County, VT is the 2,607-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Vermont alone it ranks 5 of 14. Rutland County, VT is 931 square miles with a population of 60,198.
Before you act on this
Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Owen County, KY and Swain County, NC 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 Vermont
Every county in Vermont is on this site, including Franklin County, VT and Chittenden County, VT. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.