Expansive Soil in Ohio: County Ratings
3 of the 88 rated counties in Ohio 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 | 20% | 99% |
| Allen County | Moderate | 1% | 97% |
| Ashland County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Ashtabula County | Low | 2% | 97% |
| Athens County | Low | 20% | 99% |
| Auglaize County | Moderate | 6% | 98% |
| Belmont County | Moderate | 2% | 96% |
| Brown County | Moderate | 33% | 99% |
| Butler County | Moderate | 13% | 97% |
| Carroll County | Low | 2% | 99% |
| Champaign County | Moderate | 0% | 98% |
| Clark County | Moderate | 0% | 97% |
| Clermont County | Moderate | 21% | 97% |
| Clinton County | Moderate | 5% | 99% |
| Columbiana County | Low | 2% | 98% |
| Coshocton County | Low | 3% | 98% |
| Crawford County | Moderate | 2% | 99% |
| Cuyahoga County | Moderate | 2% | 86% |
| Darke County | Moderate | 1% | 99% |
| Defiance County | Moderate | 34% | 99% |
| Delaware County | Moderate | 0% | 92% |
| Erie County | Moderate | 7% | 88% |
| Fairfield County | Moderate | 1% | 98% |
| Fayette County | Moderate | 2% | 100% |
| Franklin County | Moderate | 0% | 95% |
| Fulton County | Moderate | 11% | 99% |
| Gallia County | Low | 42% | 100% |
| Geauga County | Low | 1% | 97% |
| Greene County | Moderate | 0% | 99% |
| Guernsey County | Low | 21% | 97% |
| Hamilton County | Moderate | 14% | 76% * |
| Hancock County | Moderate | 0% | 99% |
| Hardin County | Moderate | 8% | 99% |
| Harrison County | Low | 15% | 97% |
| Henry County | Moderate | 12% | 99% |
| Highland County | Moderate | 11% | 99% |
| Hocking County | Low | 2% | 100% |
| Holmes County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Huron County | Moderate | 1% | 99% |
| Jackson County | Low | 23% | 99% |
| Jefferson County | Low | 3% | 97% |
| Knox County | Low | 0% | 99% |
| Lake County | Low | 0% | 94% |
| Lawrence County | Low | 39% | 99% |
| Licking County | Moderate | 0% | 99% |
| Logan County | Moderate | 20% | 97% |
| Lorain County | Moderate | 2% | 98% |
| Lucas County | Moderate | 20% | 89% |
| Madison County | Moderate | 0% | 100% |
| Mahoning County | Low | 9% | 96% |
| Marion County | Moderate | 19% | 99% |
| Medina County | Moderate | 1% | 97% |
| Meigs County | High | 74% | 99% |
| Mercer County | Moderate | 8% | 96% |
| Miami County | Moderate | 2% | 99% |
| Monroe County | Low | 16% | 99% |
| Montgomery County | Moderate | 6% | 97% |
| Morgan County | Low | 20% | 99% |
| Morrow County | Moderate | 1% | 99% |
| Muskingum County | Low | 14% | 97% |
| Noble County | Low | 29% | 98% |
| Ottawa County | High | 49% | 83% |
| Paulding County | High | 56% | 99% |
| Perry County | Low | 23% | 98% |
| Pickaway County | Moderate | 1% | 98% |
| Pike County | Low | 12% | 99% |
| Portage County | Low | 4% | 94% |
| Preble County | Moderate | 8% | 99% |
| Putnam County | Moderate | 45% | 99% |
| Richland County | Moderate | 3% | 96% |
| Ross County | Moderate | 14% | 99% |
| Sandusky County | Moderate | 19% | 97% |
| Scioto County | Low | 7% | 99% |
| Seneca County | Moderate | 8% | 99% |
| Shelby County | Moderate | 1% | 99% |
| Stark County | Low | 4% | 95% |
| Summit County | Low | 3% | 90% |
| Trumbull County | Moderate | 1% | 92% |
| Tuscarawas County | Low | 1% | 98% |
| Union County | Moderate | 5% | 100% |
| Van Wert County | Moderate | 6% | 100% |
| Vinton County | Low | 1% | 100% |
| Warren County | Moderate | 15% | 97% |
| Washington County | Low | 38% | 98% |
| Wayne County | Low | 0% | 98% |
| Williams County | Moderate | 16% | 97% |
| Wood County | Moderate | 0% | 98% |
| Wyandot County | Moderate | 13% | 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.