Wise County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk

What Wise County, TX's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Wise County, TX's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.71% across 56.4% of the county's surveyed land. That's a middle reading: not the sharp swings that crack a foundation outright, but enough that grading and drainage are worth getting right.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Wise County, TX 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 Wise County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Wise 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, Wise County, TX is the 719-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Texas alone it ranks 153 of 253. Wise County, TX is 904 square miles with a population of 81,275.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Valley County, MT and Dakota County, MN 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 Potter County, TX and Hemphill County, TX. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.