Williams County, ND Shrink-Swell Risk

What Williams County, ND's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Williams County, ND's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.1% across 58.7% of the county's surveyed land. A real but modest amount of movement - standard foundations usually hold up, but drainage and moisture control around the foundation still matter more than on low-risk soil.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Williams County, ND 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 Williams County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Williams County, ND 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.

How Williams County, ND compares

Nationally, Williams County, ND is the 1,118-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within North Dakota alone it ranks 28 of 53. Williams County covers 2,078 square miles and counts 40,763 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Churchill County, NV and Pierce County, WA 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 North Dakota

Every county in North Dakota is on this site, including Golden Valley County, ND and Dickey County, ND. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.