Thomas County, GA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Thomas County, GA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Thomas County, GA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 0.81% across 98.6% 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 Thomas County, GA at once, not any single address. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Thomas County, GA 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.

Thomas County's rank among Georgia counties

Nationally, Thomas County, GA is the 2,981-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Georgia alone it ranks 154 of 159. Thomas County, GA is 545 square miles with a population of 46,054.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Cumberland County, NC and Santa Clara County, CA 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 Georgia

Every county in Georgia is on this site, including Wilcox County, GA and Colquitt County, GA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.