Smith County, TN Shrink-Swell Risk

Smith County's SSURGO shrink-swell reading

Moderate

In Smith County, TN, 43.1% of the surveyed soil carries a "Moderate" shrink-swell rating, 4.41% 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

Smith 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 Smith County will actually do.

Budgeting for Smith County, TN

Smith 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.

How Smith County, TN compares

Among the 3,085 rated counties on this site, Smith County, TN ranks 407 most-constrained nationally, and 3 of 95 within Tennessee. The county spans 314 square miles, home to 20,783 people.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. King George County, VA and Floyd County, KY 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 Tennessee

Every county in Tennessee is on this site, including Clay County, TN and Meigs County, TN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.