BasementSoil

Michigan: basement moisture and foundation risk by county

83 counties, ranked by our combined index. Highest combined risk is Oakland County (78), lowest is Mason County (20). The worst soil for foundation cracks specifically is in Livingston County.

Where in Michigan the ground is worse

Every county in the state, coloured by the soil values below. Click a county to open its report; switch what the colour means with the buttons. The pattern is geology, not administration — risk stops at the edge of a physiographic region, not at a county line.

Alcona County, MI — combined 29/100, moisture 32, movement 14, water table 46Alger County, MI — combined 30/100, moisture 31, movement 16, water table 46Allegan County, MI — combined 46/100, moisture 54, movement 35, water table 46Alpena County, MI — combined 22/100, moisture 30, movement 15, water table 16Antrim County, MI — combined 28/100, moisture 30, movement 11, water table 46Arenac County, MI — combined 23/100, moisture 30, movement 19, water table 16Baraga County, MI — combined 24/100, moisture 32, movement 7, water table 30Barry County, MI — combined 48/100, moisture 55, movement 41, water table 46Bay County, MI — combined 26/100, moisture 30, movement 18, water table 30Benzie County, MI — combined 27/100, moisture 30, movement 9, water table 46Berrien County, MI — combined 53/100, moisture 54, movement 43, water table 66Branch County, MI — combined 55/100, moisture 55, movement 48, water table 66Calhoun County, MI — combined 58/100, moisture 53, movement 48, water table 82Cass County, MI — combined 56/100, moisture 53, movement 53, water table 66Charlevoix County, MI — combined 21/100, moisture 32, movement 8, water table 16Cheboygan County, MI — combined 26/100, moisture 30, movement 16, water table 30Chippewa County, MI — combined 30/100, moisture 31, movement 17, water table 46Clare County, MI — combined 28/100, moisture 32, movement 9, water table 46Clinton County, MI — combined 55/100, moisture 52, movement 52, water table 66Crawford County, MI — combined 25/100, moisture 32, movement 12, water table 30Delta County, MI — combined 31/100, moisture 32, movement 18, water table 46Dickinson County, MI — combined 31/100, moisture 32, movement 18, water table 46Eaton County, MI — combined 52/100, moisture 54, movement 39, water table 66Emmet County, MI — combined 29/100, moisture 31, movement 14, water table 46Genesee County, MI — combined 57/100, moisture 56, movement 53, water table 66Gladwin County, MI — combined 26/100, moisture 32, movement 16, water table 30Gogebic County, MI — combined 30/100, moisture 31, movement 16, water table 46Grand Traverse County, MI — combined 29/100, moisture 32, movement 12, water table 46Gratiot County, MI — combined 44/100, moisture 54, movement 30, water table 46Hillsdale County, MI — combined 56/100, moisture 53, movement 52, water table 66Houghton County, MI — combined 23/100, moisture 33, movement 13, water table 16Huron County, MI — combined 27/100, moisture 31, movement 8, water table 46Ingham County, MI — combined 49/100, moisture 54, movement 43, water table 46Ionia County, MI — combined 52/100, moisture 54, movement 55, water table 46Iosco County, MI — combined 31/100, moisture 32, movement 19, water table 46Iron County, MI — combined 32/100, moisture 33, movement 20, water table 46Isabella County, MI — combined 46/100, moisture 54, movement 34, water table 46Jackson County, MI — combined 59/100, moisture 54, movement 48, water table 82Kalamazoo County, MI — combined 59/100, moisture 54, movement 51, water table 82Kalkaska County, MI — combined 31/100, moisture 32, movement 18, water table 46Kent County, MI — combined 55/100, moisture 53, movement 49, water table 66Keweenaw County, MI — combined 25/100, moisture 31, movement 14, water table 30Lake County, MI — combined 23/100, moisture 31, movement 16, water table 16Lapeer County, MI — combined 51/100, moisture 52, movement 38, water table 66Leelanau County, MI — combined 23/100, moisture 29, movement 10, water table 30Lenawee County, MI — combined 74/100, moisture 71, movement 71, water table 82Livingston County, MI — combined 74/100, moisture 70, movement 75, water table 82Luce County, MI — combined 32/100, moisture 33, movement 19, water table 46Mackinac County, MI — combined 24/100, moisture 31, movement 11, water table 30Macomb County, MI — combined 57/100, moisture 56, movement 53, water table 66Manistee County, MI — combined 26/100, moisture 31, movement 16, water table 30Marquette County, MI — combined 23/100, moisture 30, movement 7, water table 30Mason County, MI — combined 20/100, moisture 31, movement 7, water table 16Mecosta County, MI — combined 26/100, moisture 30, movement 18, water table 30Menominee County, MI — combined 22/100, moisture 29, movement 16, water table 16Midland County, MI — combined 23/100, moisture 29, movement 10, water table 30Missaukee County, MI — combined 25/100, moisture 30, movement 13, water table 30Monroe County, MI — combined 67/100, moisture 74, movement 58, water table 66Montcalm County, MI — combined 54/100, moisture 57, movement 30, water table 82Montmorency County, MI — combined 25/100, moisture 33, movement 10, water table 30Muskegon County, MI — combined 50/100, moisture 55, movement 32, water table 66Newaygo County, MI — combined 48/100, moisture 52, movement 45, water table 46Oakland County, MI — combined 78/100, moisture 72, movement 75, water table 95Oceana County, MI — combined 24/100, moisture 31, movement 19, water table 16Ogemaw County, MI — combined 27/100, moisture 31, movement 20, water table 30Ontonagon County, MI — combined 28/100, moisture 30, movement 11, water table 46Osceola County, MI — combined 22/100, moisture 29, movement 16, water table 16Oscoda County, MI — combined 30/100, moisture 31, movement 17, water table 46Otsego County, MI — combined 28/100, moisture 32, movement 20, water table 30Ottawa County, MI — combined 56/100, moisture 55, movement 50, water table 66Presque Isle County, MI — combined 26/100, moisture 30, movement 7, water table 46Roscommon County, MI — combined 26/100, moisture 33, movement 14, water table 30Saginaw County, MI — combined 57/100, moisture 54, movement 55, water table 66Sanilac County, MI — combined 53/100, moisture 54, movement 57, water table 46Schoolcraft County, MI — combined 22/100, moisture 33, movement 12, water table 16Shiawassee County, MI — combined 52/100, moisture 52, movement 32, water table 82St. Clair County, MI — combined 53/100, moisture 54, movement 43, water table 66St. Joseph County, MI — combined 48/100, moisture 56, movement 39, water table 46Tuscola County, MI — combined 54/100, moisture 57, movement 42, water table 66Van Buren County, MI — combined 54/100, moisture 55, movement 43, water table 66Washtenaw County, MI — combined 71/100, moisture 72, movement 53, water table 95Wayne County, MI — combined 71/100, moisture 73, movement 59, water table 82Wexford County, MI — combined 21/100, moisture 31, movement 11, water table 16
  • Low (0–27)
  • Moderate (28–49)
  • Elevated (50–74)
  • High (75–100)

County boundaries: US Census TIGER (public domain), simplified for display. Colours are our index from USDA SSURGO fields where loaded, otherwise from our regional model — each county page states which. How the index is calculated.

CountyIndexMoistureCracksWater tableRegion
Oakland County78727595Glaciolacustrine lake plain
Lenawee County74717182Glaciolacustrine lake plain
Livingston County74707582Glaciolacustrine lake plain
Washtenaw County71725395Glaciolacustrine lake plain
Wayne County71735982Glaciolacustrine lake plain
Monroe County67745866Glaciolacustrine lake plain
Jackson County59544882Wisconsinan till plain
Kalamazoo County59545182Wisconsinan till plain
Calhoun County58534882Wisconsinan till plain
Genesee County57565366Wisconsinan till plain
Macomb County57565366Wisconsinan till plain
Saginaw County57545566Wisconsinan till plain
Cass County56535366Wisconsinan till plain
Hillsdale County56535266Wisconsinan till plain
Ottawa County56555066Wisconsinan till plain
Branch County55554866Wisconsinan till plain
Clinton County55525266Wisconsinan till plain
Kent County55534966Wisconsinan till plain
Montcalm County54573082Wisconsinan till plain
Tuscola County54574266Wisconsinan till plain
Van Buren County54554366Wisconsinan till plain
Berrien County53544366Wisconsinan till plain
Sanilac County53545746Wisconsinan till plain
St. Clair County53544366Wisconsinan till plain
Eaton County52543966Wisconsinan till plain
Ionia County52545546Wisconsinan till plain
Shiawassee County52523282Wisconsinan till plain
Lapeer County51523866Wisconsinan till plain
Muskegon County50553266Wisconsinan till plain
Ingham County49544346Wisconsinan till plain
Barry County48554146Wisconsinan till plain
Newaygo County48524546Wisconsinan till plain
St. Joseph County48563946Wisconsinan till plain
Allegan County46543546Wisconsinan till plain
Isabella County46543446Wisconsinan till plain
Gratiot County44543046Wisconsinan till plain
Iron County32332046Glaciofluvial sand plains
Luce County32331946Glaciofluvial sand plains
Delta County31321846Glaciofluvial sand plains
Dickinson County31321846Glaciofluvial sand plains
Iosco County31321946Glaciofluvial sand plains
Kalkaska County31321846Glaciofluvial sand plains
Alger County30311646Glaciofluvial sand plains
Chippewa County30311746Glaciofluvial sand plains
Gogebic County30311646Glaciofluvial sand plains
Oscoda County30311746Glaciofluvial sand plains
Alcona County29321446Glaciofluvial sand plains
Emmet County29311446Glaciofluvial sand plains
Grand Traverse County29321246Glaciofluvial sand plains
Antrim County28301146Glaciofluvial sand plains
Clare County2832946Glaciofluvial sand plains
Ontonagon County28301146Glaciofluvial sand plains
Otsego County28322030Glaciofluvial sand plains
Benzie County2730946Glaciofluvial sand plains
Huron County2731846Glaciofluvial sand plains
Ogemaw County27312030Glaciofluvial sand plains
Bay County26301830Glaciofluvial sand plains
Cheboygan County26301630Glaciofluvial sand plains
Gladwin County26321630Glaciofluvial sand plains
Manistee County26311630Glaciofluvial sand plains
Mecosta County26301830Glaciofluvial sand plains
Presque Isle County2630746Glaciofluvial sand plains
Roscommon County26331430Glaciofluvial sand plains
Crawford County25321230Glaciofluvial sand plains
Keweenaw County25311430Glaciofluvial sand plains
Missaukee County25301330Glaciofluvial sand plains
Montmorency County25331030Glaciofluvial sand plains
Baraga County2432730Glaciofluvial sand plains
Mackinac County24311130Glaciofluvial sand plains
Oceana County24311916Glaciofluvial sand plains
Arenac County23301916Glaciofluvial sand plains
Houghton County23331316Glaciofluvial sand plains
Lake County23311616Glaciofluvial sand plains
Leelanau County23291030Glaciofluvial sand plains
Marquette County2330730Glaciofluvial sand plains
Midland County23291030Glaciofluvial sand plains
Alpena County22301516Glaciofluvial sand plains
Menominee County22291616Glaciofluvial sand plains
Osceola County22291616Glaciofluvial sand plains
Schoolcraft County22331216Glaciofluvial sand plains
Charlevoix County2132816Glaciofluvial sand plains
Wexford County21311116Glaciofluvial sand plains
Mason County2031716Glaciofluvial sand plains

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

The physiographic regions inside Michigan

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

Glaciofluvial sand plains

Sand sheds water and there is very little clay, so volume-change cracking is rare. Where the outwash is thin over till or bedrock, though, a local perched water table forms and basements leak even in sand.

47 counties: Alcona County, Alger County, Alpena County, Antrim County, Arenac County, Baraga County, Bay County, Benzie County, Charlevoix County, Cheboygan County, Chippewa County, Clare County, Crawford County, Delta County, Dickinson County, Emmet County, Gladwin County, Gogebic County, Grand Traverse County, Houghton County, Huron County, Iosco County, Iron County, Kalkaska County, Keweenaw County, Lake County, Leelanau County, Luce County, Mackinac County, Manistee County, Marquette County, Mason County, Mecosta County, Menominee County, Midland County, Missaukee County, Montmorency County, Oceana County, Ogemaw County, Ontonagon County, Osceola County, Oscoda County, Otsego County, Presque Isle County, Roscommon County, Schoolcraft County, Wexford County

Wisconsinan till plain

The classic American basement belt. Below the topsoil sits dense till that water barely penetrates, so infiltrating water travels sideways along it until it meets the first vertical obstruction — typically a basement wall.

30 counties: Allegan County, Barry County, Berrien County, Branch County, Calhoun County, Cass County, Clinton County, Eaton County, Genesee County, Gratiot County, Hillsdale County, Ingham County, Ionia County, Isabella County, Jackson County, Kalamazoo County, Kent County, Lapeer County, Macomb County, Montcalm County, Muskegon County, Newaygo County, Ottawa County, Saginaw County, Sanilac County, Shiawassee County, St. Clair County, St. Joseph County, Tuscola County, Van Buren County

Glaciolacustrine lake plain

About the least favourable ground for a basement anywhere in the United States. Dead flat, clay with almost no permeability, and historically wetland that was drained artificially. Basements exist here because the houses were built before anyone modelled the consequence.

6 counties: Lenawee County, Livingston County, Monroe County, Oakland County, Washtenaw County, Wayne County

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