Snyder County, PA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Snyder County, PA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Snyder County, PA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.43% across 93.5% of the county's surveyed land. That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Snyder County, PA 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 Snyder County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Snyder County, PA 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, Snyder County, PA is the 2,585-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Pennsylvania alone it ranks 41 of 67. Snyder County, PA is 329 square miles with a population of 39,627.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Hancock County, OH and Currituck 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 Pennsylvania

Every county in Pennsylvania is on this site, including Armstrong County, PA and Fulton County, PA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.