Story County, IA Shrink-Swell Risk

Shrink-swell potential in Story County, IA

Low

Soil across 63.8% of Story County, IA comes back "Low" in USDA's shrink-swell data, averaging 2.95% linear extensibility. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

What this number does and doesn't tell you

This is a countywide, area-weighted figure across every soil survey map unit in Story County, IA - never a reading for one specific parcel. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Story County will actually do.

Story County: the real numbers

Story 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.

Story County's rank among Iowa counties

Among the 3,085 rated counties on this site, Story County, IA ranks 1,229 most-constrained nationally, and 87 of 99 within Iowa. Story County, IA is 573 square miles with a population of 102,498.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Chicot County, AR and Lea County, NM 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 Iowa

Every county in Iowa is on this site, including Bremer County, IA and Dallas County, IA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.