Expansive Soil in Nebraska: County Ratings
16 of the 93 rated counties in Nebraska 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 | 36% | 100% |
| Antelope County | Low | 1% | 100% |
| Arthur County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Banner County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Blaine County | Low | 1% | 99% |
| Boone County | Moderate | 2% | 100% |
| Box Butte County | Low | 1% | 100% |
| Boyd County | Low | 57% | 98% |
| Brown County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Buffalo County | Moderate | 5% | 98% |
| Burt County | Moderate | 27% | 99% |
| Butler County | High | 52% | 99% |
| Cass County | Moderate | 20% | 97% |
| Cedar County | Moderate | 3% | 99% |
| Chase County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Cherry County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Cheyenne County | Moderate | 0% | 100% |
| Clay County | High | 83% | 100% |
| Colfax County | Moderate | 10% | 98% |
| Cuming County | Moderate | 13% | 99% |
| Custer County | Moderate | 0% | 100% |
| Dakota County | Moderate | 18% | 99% |
| Dawes County | Low | 36% | 100% |
| Dawson County | Moderate | 2% | 99% |
| Deuel County | Moderate | 1% | 100% |
| Dixon County | Moderate | 3% | 98% |
| Dodge County | Moderate | 22% | 97% |
| Douglas County | Moderate | 5% | 71% * |
| Dundy County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Fillmore County | Very High | 92% | 100% |
| Franklin County | Moderate | 3% | 99% |
| Frontier County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Furnas County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Gage County | High | 75% | 99% |
| Garden County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Garfield County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Gosper County | Moderate | 1% | 99% |
| Grant County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Greeley County | Moderate | 0% | 99% |
| Hall County | Low | 25% | 98% |
| Hamilton County | High | 80% | 99% |
| Harlan County | Moderate | 1% | 96% |
| Hayes County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Hitchcock County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Holt County | Low | 2% | 99% |
| Hooker County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Howard County | Moderate | 2% | 98% |
| Jefferson County | Very High | 57% | 99% |
| Johnson County | High | 65% | 99% |
| Kearney County | Low | 12% | 100% |
| Keith County | Low | 0% | 95% |
| Keya Paha County | Low | 8% | 99% |
| Kimball County | Moderate | 0% | 100% |
| Knox County | Moderate | 15% | 97% |
| Lancaster County | High | 64% | 99% |
| Lincoln County | Low | 1% | 99% |
| Logan County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Loup County | Low | 0% | 98% |
| Madison County | Moderate | 5% | 99% |
| McPherson County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Merrick County | Low | 4% | 98% |
| Morrill County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Nance County | Moderate | 7% | 98% |
| Nemaha County | Moderate | 38% | 99% |
| Nuckolls County | High | 53% | 99% |
| Otoe County | High | 57% | 99% |
| Pawnee County | High | 61% | 99% |
| Perkins County | Moderate | 1% | 100% |
| Phelps County | Moderate | 5% | 100% |
| Pierce County | Moderate | 1% | 100% |
| Platte County | Moderate | 11% | 98% |
| Polk County | High | 58% | 99% |
| Red Willow County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Richardson County | Moderate | 44% | 99% |
| Rock County | Low | 1% | 99% |
| Saline County | Very High | 73% | 99% |
| Sarpy County | Moderate | 3% | 88% |
| Saunders County | Moderate | 18% | 99% |
| Scotts Bluff County | Low | 2% | 98% |
| Seward County | High | 61% | 99% |
| Sheridan County | Low | 1% | 99% |
| Sherman County | Moderate | 0% | 98% |
| Sioux County | Low | 14% | 100% |
| Stanton County | Moderate | 2% | 99% |
| Thayer County | High | 61% | 99% |
| Thomas County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| Thurston County | Moderate | 5% | 99% |
| Valley County | Moderate | 1% | 99% |
| Washington County | Moderate | 13% | 99% |
| Wayne County | Moderate | 5% | 100% |
| Webster County | Moderate | 8% | 99% |
| Wheeler County | Low | 0% | 100% |
| York County | High | 85% | 100% |
* 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.