Expansive Soil in Indiana: County Ratings

6 of the 92 rated counties in Indiana have a dominant shrink-swell rating of High or Very High. Each rating below is the NRCS shrink-swell class covering the largest share of the county's mapped soil acres, computed from USDA SSURGO data. Open a county for the full class breakdown and what it means for a slab foundation.

County Dominant class High + Very High share Survey coverage
Adams County Moderate 9% 98%
Allen County Moderate 8% 97%
Bartholomew County Moderate 2% 98%
Benton County Moderate 2% 100%
Blackford County Moderate 42% 99%
Boone County Moderate 0% 99%
Brown County Low 1% 98%
Carroll County Moderate 0% 98%
Cass County Moderate 2% 97%
Clark County Low 20% 88%
Clay County Low 2% 98%
Clinton County Moderate 0% 100%
Crawford County Low 8% 97%
Daviess County Low 2% 98%
De Kalb County Moderate 19% 96%
Dearborn County High 44% 98%
Decatur County Moderate 1% 99%
Delaware County Moderate 1% 98%
Dubois County Low 0% 98%
Elkhart County Moderate 0% 96%
Fayette County Moderate 0% 99%
Floyd County Low 44% 82%
Fountain County Moderate 0% 99%
Franklin County Moderate 14% 98%
Fulton County Low 0% 93%
Gibson County Low 3% 96%
Grant County Moderate 3% 99%
Greene County Low 6% 99%
Hamilton County Moderate 0% 97%
Hancock County Moderate 0% 99%
Harrison County High 62% 99%
Hendricks County Moderate 0% 99%
Henry County Moderate 4% 99%
Howard County Moderate 0% 99%
Huntington County Moderate 0% 98%
Jackson County Low 4% 98%
Jasper County Low 6% 98%
Jay County Moderate 40% 99%
Jefferson County Low 13% 99%
Jennings County Low 4% 99%
Johnson County Moderate 0% 98%
Knox County Low 3% 98%
Kosciusko County Low 4% 90%
La Porte County Low 1% 96%
Lagrange County Low 3% 91%
Lake County Moderate 18% 84%
Lawrence County High 55% 98%
Madison County Moderate 0% 99%
Marion County Moderate 0% 91%
Marshall County Moderate 1% 94%
Martin County Moderate 3% 98%
Miami County Moderate 2% 97%
Monroe County Low 24% 94%
Montgomery County Moderate 1% 99%
Morgan County Moderate 1% 98%
Newton County Low 6% 99%
Noble County Moderate 5% 90%
Ohio County High 47% 99%
Orange County Moderate 18% 98%
Owen County Low 4% 98%
Parke County Moderate 0% 98%
Perry County Low 19% 97%
Pike County Low 0% 97%
Porter County Moderate 7% 93%
Posey County Low 1% 97%
Pulaski County Low 2% 98%
Putnam County Moderate 0% 98%
Randolph County Moderate 5% 99%
Ripley County Low 6% 99%
Rush County Moderate 0% 100%
Scott County Low 0% 97%
Shelby County Moderate 0% 99%
Spencer County Low 2% 98%
St. Joseph County Low 2% 95%
Starke County Low 0% 95%
Steuben County Moderate 1% 86%
Sullivan County Moderate 1% 96%
Switzerland County High 49% 98%
Tippecanoe County Moderate 1% 97%
Tipton County Moderate 0% 100%
Union County Moderate 0% 97%
Vanderburgh County Low 4% 97%
Vermillion County Moderate 7% 97%
Vigo County Moderate 1% 97%
Wabash County Moderate 3% 97%
Warren County Moderate 2% 99%
Warrick County Low 1% 96%
Washington County High 43% 99%
Wayne County Moderate 8% 99%
Wells County Moderate 24% 99%
White County Moderate 0% 99%
Whitley County Moderate 17% 96%

How these ratings are computed

Ratings come from USDA NRCS SSURGO soil survey data: for each soil component we take the maximum linear extensibility percent (lep_r) in the top 100 cm, apply the NRCS Handbook Part 618 class limits (Low under 3 percent, Moderate 3 to 6, High 6 to 9, Very High 9 and above), assign map units by plurality of component percent, and roll acres up to the county. Full details on the methodology section of the lookup page. A county rating is not a parcel-level geotechnical assessment.