Expansive Soil in Minnesota: County Ratings
None of the 87 rated counties in Minnesota 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aitkin County | Low | 2% | 71% * |
| Anoka County | Low | 0% | 94% |
| Becker County | Low | 5% | 83% |
| Beltrami County | Low | 3% | 67% * |
| Benton County | Low | 1% | 99% |
| Big Stone County | Moderate | 15% | 95% |
| Blue Earth County | Moderate | 42% | 98% |
| Brown County | Moderate | 6% | 98% |
| Carlton County | Low | 7% | 97% |
| Carver County | Moderate | 1% | 95% |
| Cass County | Low | 1% | 78% * |
| Chippewa County | Moderate | 1% | 98% |
| Chisago County | Low | 0% | 94% |
| Clay County | Low | 25% | 99% |
| Clearwater County | Moderate | 11% | 86% |
| Cook County | Low | 4% | 80% |
| Cottonwood County | Moderate | 2% | 98% |
| Crow Wing County | Low | 0% | 76% * |
| Dakota County | Low | 2% | 95% |
| Dodge County | Moderate | 1% | 100% |
| Douglas County | Low | 4% | 86% |
| Faribault County | Moderate | 31% | 99% |
| Fillmore County | Moderate | 11% | 97% |
| Freeborn County | Moderate | 12% | 95% |
| Goodhue County | Low | 4% | 97% |
| Grant County | Moderate | 3% | 94% |
| Hennepin County | Moderate | 2% | 80% * |
| Houston County | Moderate | 3% | 97% |
| Hubbard County | Low | 0% | 86% |
| Isanti County | Low | 1% | 97% |
| Itasca County | Low | 17% | 72% * |
| Jackson County | Moderate | 14% | 97% |
| Kanabec County | Low | 8% | 96% |
| Kandiyohi County | Moderate | 11% | 92% |
| Kittson County | Low | 38% | 100% |
| Koochiching County | Low | 31% | 71% * |
| Lac qui Parle County | Moderate | 10% | 98% |
| Lake County | Low | 7% | 79% * |
| Lake of the Woods County | Low | 10% | 53% * |
| Le Sueur County | Moderate | 17% | 94% |
| Lincoln County | Moderate | 10% | 98% |
| Lyon County | Moderate | 7% | 98% |
| Mahnomen County | Moderate | 13% | 95% |
| Marshall County | Low | 25% | 98% |
| Martin County | Moderate | 2% | 97% |
| McLeod County | Moderate | 1% | 98% |
| Meeker County | Low | 15% | 95% |
| Mille Lacs County | Low | 5% | 81% |
| Morrison County | Low | 0% | 92% |
| Mower County | Moderate | 3% | 100% |
| Murray County | Moderate | 8% | 98% |
| Nicollet County | Moderate | 5% | 96% |
| Nobles County | Moderate | 6% | 99% |
| Norman County | Low | 28% | 100% |
| Olmsted County | Moderate | 12% | 99% |
| Otter Tail County | Low | 3% | 85% |
| Pennington County | Low | 10% | 99% |
| Pine County | Low | 7% | 71% * |
| Pipestone County | Moderate | 1% | 100% |
| Polk County | Low | 11% | 98% |
| Pope County | Low | 3% | 90% |
| Ramsey County | Low | 0% | 75% * |
| Red Lake County | Low | 16% | 99% |
| Redwood County | Moderate | 8% | 99% |
| Renville County | Moderate | 15% | 99% |
| Rice County | Moderate | 15% | 95% |
| Rock County | Moderate | 1% | 100% |
| Roseau County | Low | 18% | 93% |
| Scott County | Moderate | 1% | 87% |
| Sherburne County | Low | 0% | 96% |
| Sibley County | Moderate | 9% | 98% |
| St. Louis County | Low | 15% | 85% |
| Stearns County | Low | 0% | 91% |
| Steele County | Moderate | 4% | 99% |
| Stevens County | Moderate | 13% | 97% |
| Swift County | Low | 3% | 98% |
| Todd County | Low | 0% | 89% |
| Traverse County | Moderate | 39% | 98% |
| Wabasha County | Moderate | 7% | 95% |
| Wadena County | Low | 0% | 91% |
| Waseca County | Moderate | 11% | 97% |
| Washington County | Low | 1% | 90% |
| Watonwan County | Moderate | 5% | 99% |
| Wilkin County | Moderate | 41% | 100% |
| Winona County | Moderate | 5% | 96% |
| Wright County | Moderate | 0% | 89% |
| Yellow Medicine County | Moderate | 6% | 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.