BasementSoil

Missouri: basement moisture and foundation risk by county

115 counties, ranked by our combined index. Highest combined risk is Scott County (74), lowest is Crawford County (24). The worst soil for foundation cracks specifically is in Scott County.

CountyIndexMoistureCracksWater tableRegion
Scott County74638482Mississippi alluvial plain
Stoddard County73637295Mississippi alluvial plain
Wayne County73627495Mississippi alluvial plain
New Madrid County71627582Mississippi alluvial plain
Bollinger County65645382Mississippi alluvial plain
Butler County65655382Mississippi alluvial plain
Knox County64546482Dissected till plain with a claypan
Mississippi County64646266Mississippi alluvial plain
Warren County64536782Dissected till plain with a claypan
Pemiscot County63665666Mississippi alluvial plain
Saline County63536382Dissected till plain with a claypan
Dunklin County62624982Mississippi alluvial plain
Ralls County62545882Dissected till plain with a claypan
Scotland County62536182Dissected till plain with a claypan
Clark County61536866Dissected till plain with a claypan
Grundy County61535782Dissected till plain with a claypan
Pettis County61496382Dissected till plain with a claypan
Boone County60516866Dissected till plain with a claypan
Callaway County60516766Dissected till plain with a claypan
Howard County60505882Dissected till plain with a claypan
Montgomery County60496182Dissected till plain with a claypan
Adair County59506666Dissected till plain with a claypan
Cole County59546166Dissected till plain with a claypan
Marion County59536366Dissected till plain with a claypan
Chariton County57515866Dissected till plain with a claypan
Livingston County57524782Dissected till plain with a claypan
Mercer County57496266Dissected till plain with a claypan
Pike County57504882Dissected till plain with a claypan
St. Louis County57525866Dissected till plain with a claypan
St. Louis City57545466Dissected till plain with a claypan
Putnam County56496066Dissected till plain with a claypan
Carroll County55535166Dissected till plain with a claypan
Cooper County55544866Dissected till plain with a claypan
Lincoln County55535166Dissected till plain with a claypan
Macon County55534966Dissected till plain with a claypan
Randolph County55514082Dissected till plain with a claypan
St. Charles County55525266Dissected till plain with a claypan
Audrain County53514666Dissected till plain with a claypan
Schuyler County53504866Dissected till plain with a claypan
Monroe County52524366Dissected till plain with a claypan
Shelby County52494666Dissected till plain with a claypan
Lewis County51543766Dissected till plain with a claypan
Moniteau County51504366Dissected till plain with a claypan
Linn County50504066Dissected till plain with a claypan
Sullivan County50494066Dissected till plain with a claypan
Ste. Genevieve County36344230Ozark highland
Greene County35344130Ozark highland
Iron County35324430Ozark highland
Reynolds County35334130Ozark highland
Clinton County34343630Loess hills
Daviess County34333730Loess hills
DeKalb County34373330Loess hills
Gasconade County34333830Ozark highland
Jackson County34324030Loess hills
Miller County34333930Ozark highland
Osage County34314030Ozark highland
Platte County34333930Loess hills
Ripley County34314130Ozark highland
Benton County33323630Ozark highland
Douglas County33344316Ozark highland
Franklin County33313830Ozark highland
Holt County33372830Loess hills
Laclede County33323830Ozark highland
Lawrence County33323830Ozark highland
Shannon County33313930Ozark highland
Texas County33333430Ozark highland
Barton County32324216Ozark highland
Dent County32313430Ozark highland
Gentry County32373816Loess hills
Howell County32343230Ozark highland
Jasper County32303730Ozark highland
Jefferson County32323230Ozark highland
Lafayette County32343030Loess hills
Nodaway County32352930Loess hills
Phelps County32343230Ozark highland
Ray County32362830Loess hills
Washington County32323330Ozark highland
Webster County32343230Ozark highland
Worth County32333130Loess hills
Andrew County31333030Loess hills
Barry County31313230Ozark highland
Christian County31332930Ozark highland
Clay County31342730Loess hills
Newton County31342730Ozark highland
Bates County30314016Ozark highland
Camden County30332630Ozark highland
Cass County30353416Loess hills
Henry County30303030Ozark highland
Hickory County30323716Ozark highland
Madison County30342530Ozark highland
Polk County30322730Ozark highland
Pulaski County30313030Ozark highland
Atchison County29332430Loess hills
Buchanan County29332230Loess hills
McDonald County29312530Ozark highland
Morgan County29302630Ozark highland
Oregon County29322330Ozark highland
St. Francois County29312630Ozark highland
Taney County29333416Ozark highland
Wright County29312630Ozark highland
Caldwell County28332030Loess hills
Cape Girardeau County28313216Ozark highland
Cedar County28322030Ozark highland
Stone County28302530Ozark highland
Carter County27312030Ozark highland
Harrison County27342616Loess hills
Johnson County27332516Loess hills
Maries County27313016Ozark highland
Perry County27311830Ozark highland
Dade County26301730Ozark highland
Dallas County26332316Ozark highland
Ozark County26302916Ozark highland
St. Clair County26311730Ozark highland
Vernon County26301830Ozark highland
Crawford County24312016Ozark highland

Values from USDA NRCS SSURGO where available, otherwise our regional model — each county page states which. Methodology.

The physiographic regions inside Missouri

State lines are political; soil follows geology. These are the distinct ground types inside Missouri and why each behaves the way it does.

Ozark highland

Shallow bedrock and karst pathways. Shrink-swell is low, but water moves through the subsurface in concentrated routes — a basement can be dry for twenty years and then leak through one specific joint in a single event.

51 counties: Barry County, Barton County, Bates County, Benton County, Camden County, Cape Girardeau County, Carter County, Cedar County, Christian County, Crawford County, Dade County, Dallas County, Dent County, Douglas County, Franklin County, Gasconade County, Greene County, Henry County, Hickory County, Howell County, Iron County, Jasper County, Jefferson County, Laclede County, Lawrence County, Madison County, Maries County, McDonald County, Miller County, Morgan County, Newton County, Oregon County, Osage County, Ozark County, Perry County, Phelps County, Polk County, Pulaski County, Reynolds County, Ripley County, Shannon County, St. Clair County, St. Francois County, Ste. Genevieve County, Stone County, Taney County, Texas County, Vernon County, Washington County, Webster County, Wright County

Dissected till plain with a claypan

The claypan is a hard clay layer a few tens of centimetres under the lawn. Water sits on it and spreads sideways. The typical symptom is seepage through the upper part of the wall rather than at the floor.

36 counties: Adair County, Audrain County, Boone County, Callaway County, Carroll County, Chariton County, Clark County, Cole County, Cooper County, Grundy County, Howard County, Knox County, Lewis County, Lincoln County, Linn County, Livingston County, Macon County, Marion County, Mercer County, Moniteau County, Monroe County, Montgomery County, Pettis County, Pike County, Putnam County, Ralls County, Randolph County, Saline County, Schuyler County, Scotland County, Shelby County, St. Charles County, St. Louis County, St. Louis City, Sullivan County, Warren County

Loess hills

Loess is permeable and the water table is deep, but it is prone to erosion and to collapse under load when wetted — a different failure mode from expansive clay. A broken downspout can undermine a loess footing.

19 counties: Andrew County, Atchison County, Buchanan County, Caldwell County, Cass County, Clay County, Clinton County, Daviess County, DeKalb County, Gentry County, Harrison County, Holt County, Jackson County, Johnson County, Lafayette County, Nodaway County, Platte County, Ray County, Worth County

Mississippi alluvial plain

Basements are rare here and that is sensible. Where they exist they are under more or less permanent groundwater pressure — not a case for a one-off repair, but for a pump with a backup that never stops mattering.

9 counties: Bollinger County, Butler County, Dunklin County, Mississippi County, New Madrid County, Pemiscot County, Scott County, Stoddard County, Wayne County

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