Tarrant County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk

Tarrant County, TX's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Moderate

Tarrant County, TX: USDA's soil survey rates 41.4% of the county "Moderate" for shrink-swell potential (5.93% linear extensibility). That's a middle reading: not the sharp swings that crack a foundation outright, but enough that grading and drainage are worth getting right.

What Tarrant County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Tarrant County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Tarrant County will actually do.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Tarrant County, TX rating "Moderate", 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, Tarrant County, TX is the 139-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Texas alone it ranks 48 of 253. Tarrant County, TX is 865 square miles with a population of 2,230,708.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Antelope County, NE and Alamance 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 Texas

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