Sumter County, FL Shrink-Swell Risk

What Sumter County, FL's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Sumter County, FL's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.64% across 85.1% of the county's surveyed land. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Sumter County, FL at once, not any single address. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in Sumter County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Sumter County, FL 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, Sumter County, FL is the 2,341-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Florida alone it ranks 3 of 66. Sumter County, FL is 557 square miles with a population of 154,693.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Hot Springs County, WY and Cortland County, NY 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 Florida

Every county in Florida is on this site, including Manatee County, FL and Putnam County, FL. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.