San Patricio County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk

What San Patricio County, TX's soil means for a foundation

High

USDA's SSURGO data puts San Patricio County, TX's soil at "High" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 7.75% across 29.8% of the county's surveyed land. Ground like this needs active moisture control to keep a conventional foundation from cracking - it's not automatic either way.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of San Patricio County, TX 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 San Patricio County, TX rating "High", the gap between finding out early and finding out late is the whole decision. The report ($1,000-$5,000) is what tells you whether San Patricio County's county-level reading applies to your lot; the repair ($5,000-$15,000) is what it costs if you skip that and find out from the cracks instead.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, San Patricio County, TX is the 61-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Texas alone it ranks 16 of 253. San Patricio County covers 693 square miles and counts 71,467 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Tulare County, CA and Somerset County, ME are worth a look for comparison.

How this reading is built, and its real limits · The warning signs of expansive-clay damage, explained

More of Texas

Every county in Texas is on this site, including Hays County, TX and Martin County, TX. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.