Expansive Soil in Kansas: County Ratings
63 of the 105 rated counties in Kansas 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allen County | High | 80% | 99% |
| Anderson County | High | 81% | 99% |
| Atchison County | High | 62% | 99% |
| Barber County | Low | 24% | 99% |
| Barton County | High | 58% | 97% |
| Bourbon County | High | 67% | 99% |
| Brown County | High | 67% | 100% |
| Butler County | Very High | 76% | 98% |
| Chase County | High | 72% | 99% |
| Chautauqua County | High | 77% | 99% |
| Cherokee County | Moderate | 40% | 98% |
| Cheyenne County | Low | 1% | 100% |
| Clark County | Low | 18% | 100% |
| Clay County | Very High | 57% | 98% |
| Cloud County | High | 62% | 99% |
| Coffey County | High | 87% | 96% |
| Comanche County | Low | 5% | 100% |
| Cowley County | Very High | 66% | 99% |
| Crawford County | High | 60% | 99% |
| Decatur County | Moderate | 0% | 100% |
| Dickinson County | High | 76% | 99% |
| Doniphan County | Moderate | 14% | 98% |
| Douglas County | High | 54% | 96% |
| Edwards County | Low | 37% | 100% |
| Elk County | Very High | 83% | 99% |
| Ellis County | High | 49% | 99% |
| Ellsworth County | Moderate | 48% | 99% |
| Finney County | High | 40% | 100% |
| Ford County | High | 54% | 100% |
| Franklin County | High | 80% | 99% |
| Geary County | High | 79% | 95% |
| Gove County | Moderate | 11% | 100% |
| Graham County | Moderate | 0% | 100% |
| Grant County | Moderate | 20% | 100% |
| Gray County | High | 59% | 100% |
| Greeley County | High | 61% | 100% |
| Greenwood County | High | 86% | 99% |
| Hamilton County | Low | 29% | 100% |
| Harper County | Moderate | 11% | 100% |
| Harvey County | Very High | 70% | 100% |
| Haskell County | High | 70% | 100% |
| Hodgeman County | High | 53% | 100% |
| Jackson County | High | 73% | 100% |
| Jefferson County | Moderate | 51% | 95% |
| Jewell County | Moderate | 46% | 99% |
| Johnson County | High | 80% | 98% |
| Kearny County | Low | 29% | 99% |
| Kingman County | Low | 8% | 99% |
| Kiowa County | Low | 25% | 100% |
| Labette County | High | 69% | 99% |
| Lane County | High | 66% | 100% |
| Leavenworth County | High | 62% | 98% |
| Lincoln County | Moderate | 33% | 99% |
| Linn County | High | 79% | 98% |
| Logan County | Moderate | 2% | 99% |
| Lyon County | Very High | 78% | 99% |
| Marion County | High | 74% | 99% |
| Marshall County | High | 71% | 100% |
| McPherson County | Very High | 70% | 100% |
| Meade County | High | 36% | 100% |
| Miami County | High | 87% | 98% |
| Mitchell County | High | 69% | 97% |
| Montgomery County | High | 65% | 98% |
| Morris County | High | 75% | 99% |
| Morton County | Moderate | 18% | 100% |
| Nemaha County | High | 61% | 100% |
| Neosho County | High | 69% | 98% |
| Ness County | High | 51% | 100% |
| Norton County | Moderate | 0% | 100% |
| Osage County | High | 80% | 97% |
| Osborne County | High | 51% | 100% |
| Ottawa County | Moderate | 47% | 100% |
| Pawnee County | High | 57% | 100% |
| Phillips County | Moderate | 5% | 100% |
| Pottawatomie County | High | 72% | 98% |
| Pratt County | Low | 27% | 100% |
| Rawlins County | Moderate | 0% | 100% |
| Reno County | Low | 22% | 98% |
| Republic County | Very High | 68% | 100% |
| Rice County | Moderate | 47% | 100% |
| Riley County | High | 82% | 98% |
| Rooks County | Moderate | 27% | 100% |
| Rush County | High | 59% | 100% |
| Russell County | Low | 36% | 98% |
| Saline County | Moderate | 47% | 99% |
| Scott County | High | 49% | 100% |
| Sedgwick County | High | 48% | 99% |
| Seward County | Low | 26% | 100% |
| Shawnee County | High | 64% | 96% |
| Sheridan County | Moderate | 0% | 100% |
| Sherman County | Moderate | 1% | 100% |
| Smith County | Moderate | 26% | 100% |
| Stafford County | Low | 25% | 99% |
| Stanton County | High | 45% | 100% |
| Stevens County | Moderate | 6% | 100% |
| Sumner County | High | 53% | 99% |
| Thomas County | Moderate | 2% | 100% |
| Trego County | Moderate | 26% | 100% |
| Wabaunsee County | High | 73% | 99% |
| Wallace County | Moderate | 3% | 100% |
| Washington County | Very High | 66% | 100% |
| Wichita County | High | 55% | 100% |
| Wilson County | High | 77% | 99% |
| Woodson County | High | 80% | 99% |
| Wyandotte County | Moderate | 46% | 93% |
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.