Clarion, Iowa: what the ground under the city is like
Clarion sits in Wright County, on des moines lobe and prairie potholes. The soil mapped here is predominantly classified poorly drained — and that classification, not the rainfall total, is what decides how a basement behaves.
70% of the mapped soil area around Clarion is wet enough that the USDA describes it as needing artificial drainage.
Linear extensibility 4.3% — moderate.
Shallowest annual water table around 40 cm (1.3 ft).
Values are for Wright County, which is what the soil survey resolves to. Full county report · soil map for a specific address.
The ground under Clarion
Des Moines Lobe and prairie potholes. Young calcareous till pitted with thousands of closed depressions
The youngest glaciation in the Midwest, so the landscape has not yet developed a drainage network. Without artificial drainage much of it would be wetland. A house in a depression and a house 300 m away on a rise have genuinely different risk — this is where a county average tells you least.
When it shows up here
| Water | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ground movement | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
Water peaks with the March–April thaw, when frozen ground stops absorbing and meltwater plus spring rain arrive together. If a basement here leaks once a year, that is when.
Climate pattern for this physiographic region, not a forecast for your house and not from the soil survey. It answers a question homeowners actually ask: when does this show up.
What repairs cost in Iowa
| Reference job | Modelled range |
|---|---|
| Interior drain along two walls + sump pump | $4,650–$10,000 |
| Exterior excavation of one 40 ft wall | $3,500–$9,950 |
| Underpinning on 10 piers | $13,800–$29,450 |
Regional factor for IA: ×0.92. Full cost breakdown for Iowa · run your own dimensions.
ZIP codes in Clarion
50525, 50526
Soil does not stop at a city boundary, and neither does this data — every ZIP code above resolves to the same county soil survey. For the individual survey polygons around one address, use the soil map.
Questions about Clarion
Is the soil the same everywhere in Clarion?
No. These values describe Wright County as a whole, which is the unit the soil survey publishes. Within a city, map units change over a few hundred metres — the soil map draws the actual polygons around a point and is the honest answer for one address.
Which contractor should I call in Clarion?
We do not rank or recommend individual firms and we are not one. What this page is for is knowing which kind of work the ground here points to before anyone quotes you, and which claim to check. If you want quotes, the form below passes your request to the named networks.
Does this replace an inspection?
No. It tells you what the ground is; an inspection tells you what your building is doing on it. The useful order is: read this, print the brief for your county, then have someone look.
Get quotes in Clarion
We pass what you enter to the contractor networks listed below. You choose whether to hire anyone.
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