Expansive Soil in Kentucky: County Ratings
4 of the 120 rated counties in Kentucky 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adair County | Low | 3% | 98% |
| Allen County | Low | 0% | 98% |
| Anderson County | Moderate | 26% | 99% |
| Ballard County | Low | 2% | 92% |
| Barren County | Moderate | 1% | 96% |
| Bath County | Moderate | 17% | 97% |
| Bell County | Low | 0% | 98% |
| Boone County | Moderate | 4% | 95% |
| Bourbon County | High | 53% | 99% |
| Boyd County | High | 72% | 99% |
| Boyle County | Moderate | 13% | 99% |
| Bracken County | Moderate | 1% | 96% |
| Breathitt County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Breckinridge County | Low | 3% | 96% |
| Bullitt County | Moderate | 25% | 99% |
| Butler County | Low | 1% | 99% |
| Caldwell County | Low | 6% | 99% |
| Calloway County | Low | 0% | 87% |
| Campbell County | Moderate | 11% | 92% |
| Carlisle County | Low | 5% | 95% |
| Carroll County | Moderate | 11% | 93% |
| Carter County | High | 54% | 99% |
| Casey County | Moderate | 1% | 100% |
| Christian County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Clark County | Moderate | 28% | 98% |
| Clay County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Clinton County | Moderate | 0% | 95% |
| Crittenden County | Low | 1% | 97% |
| Cumberland County | Low | 0% | 98% |
| Daviess County | Low | 6% | 96% |
| Edmonson County | Low | 0% | 98% |
| Elliott County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Estill County | Low | 4% | 98% |
| Fayette County | Moderate | 29% | 98% |
| Fleming County | Moderate | 20% | 100% |
| Floyd County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Franklin County | Moderate | 19% | 99% |
| Fulton County | Low | 19% | 89% |
| Gallatin County | Moderate | 4% | 94% |
| Garrard County | Moderate | 18% | 99% |
| Grant County | Moderate | 14% | 99% |
| Graves County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Grayson County | Low | 2% | 97% |
| Green County | Moderate | 8% | 100% |
| Greenup County | High | 58% | 97% |
| Hancock County | Low | 1% | 94% |
| Hardin County | Moderate | 20% | 99% |
| Harlan County | Low | 0% | 97% |
| Harrison County | Moderate | 9% | 99% |
| Hart County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Henderson County | Low | 5% | 94% |
| Henry County | Moderate | 29% | 100% |
| Hickman County | Low | 4% | 96% |
| Hopkins County | Low | 10% | 97% |
| Jackson County | Low | 5% | 100% |
| Jefferson County | Moderate | 6% | 72% * |
| Jessamine County | Moderate | 10% | 99% |
| Johnson County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Kenton County | Moderate | 10% | 96% |
| Knott County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Knox County | Low | 24% | 100% |
| Larue County | Moderate | 21% | 100% |
| Laurel County | Low | 11% | 98% |
| Lawrence County | Low | 21% | 99% |
| Lee County | Low | 3% | 98% |
| Leslie County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Letcher County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Lewis County | Low | 0% | 97% |
| Lincoln County | Low | 11% | 100% |
| Livingston County | Low | 4% | 89% |
| Logan County | Moderate | 2% | 100% |
| Lyon County | Low | 0% | 81% |
| Madison County | Moderate | 12% | 99% |
| Magoffin County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Marion County | Moderate | 9% | 100% |
| Marshall County | Low | 1% | 97% |
| Martin County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Mason County | Moderate | 46% | 98% |
| McCracken County | Low | 7% | 88% |
| McCreary County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| McLean County | Low | 12% | 99% |
| Meade County | Moderate | 7% | 94% |
| Menifee County | Low | 28% | 98% |
| Mercer County | Moderate | 12% | 98% |
| Metcalfe County | Low | 2% | 98% |
| Monroe County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Montgomery County | Moderate | 16% | 100% |
| Morgan County | Low | 3% | 99% |
| Muhlenberg County | Low | 1% | 97% |
| Nelson County | Moderate | 17% | 99% |
| Nicholas County | Moderate | 24% | 99% |
| Ohio County | Low | 1% | 98% |
| Oldham County | Moderate | 26% | 97% |
| Owen County | Moderate | 5% | 99% |
| Owsley County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Pendleton County | Moderate | 6% | 99% |
| Perry County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Pike County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Powell County | Low | 2% | 99% |
| Pulaski County | Moderate | 4% | 97% |
| Robertson County | Moderate | 0% | 99% |
| Rockcastle County | Low | 12% | 100% |
| Rowan County | Low | 12% | 98% |
| Russell County | Low | 0% | 88% |
| Scott County | Moderate | 21% | 99% |
| Shelby County | Moderate | 47% | 100% |
| Simpson County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Spencer County | Moderate | 22% | 97% |
| Taylor County | Moderate | 3% | 98% |
| Todd County | Low | 3% | 100% |
| Trigg County | Moderate | 0% | 87% |
| Trimble County | Moderate | 9% | 95% |
| Union County | Moderate | 4% | 94% |
| Warren County | Low | 0% | 98% |
| Washington County | Moderate | 19% | 99% |
| Wayne County | Low | 0% | 92% |
| Webster County | Low | 11% | 99% |
| Whitley County | Low | 8% | 98% |
| Wolfe County | Low | 3% | 100% |
| Woodford County | Moderate | 18% | 99% |
* Less than 80% of this county's map acres have completed soil survey data; treat its rating as provisional.
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.