BasementSoil

New York: basement moisture and foundation risk by county

62 counties, ranked by our combined index. Highest combined risk is Monroe County (75), lowest is Cortland County (29). The worst soil for foundation cracks specifically is in Wayne County.

Where in New York 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.

Albany County, NY — combined 35/100, moisture 42, movement 17, water table 46Allegany County, NY — combined 37/100, moisture 38, movement 30, water table 46Bronx County, NY — combined 41/100, moisture 40, movement 23, water table 66Broome County, NY — combined 44/100, moisture 38, movement 52, water table 46Cattaraugus County, NY — combined 34/100, moisture 34, movement 38, water table 30Cayuga County, NY — combined 32/100, moisture 34, movement 30, water table 30Chautauqua County, NY — combined 32/100, moisture 37, movement 26, water table 30Chemung County, NY — combined 37/100, moisture 34, movement 34, water table 46Chenango County, NY — combined 43/100, moisture 41, movement 29, water table 66Clinton County, NY — combined 35/100, moisture 43, movement 16, water table 46Columbia County, NY — combined 38/100, moisture 39, movement 16, water table 66Cortland County, NY — combined 29/100, moisture 39, movement 13, water table 30Delaware County, NY — combined 39/100, moisture 38, movement 48, water table 30Dutchess County, NY — combined 37/100, moisture 42, movement 25, water table 46Erie County, NY — combined 41/100, moisture 34, movement 48, water table 46Essex County, NY — combined 32/100, moisture 40, movement 23, water table 30Franklin County, NY — combined 31/100, moisture 42, movement 16, water table 30Fulton County, NY — combined 40/100, moisture 41, movement 19, water table 66Genesee County, NY — combined 44/100, moisture 41, movement 33, water table 66Greene County, NY — combined 42/100, moisture 39, movement 29, water table 66Hamilton County, NY — combined 41/100, moisture 39, movement 27, water table 66Herkimer County, NY — combined 34/100, moisture 42, movement 25, water table 30Jefferson County, NY — combined 37/100, moisture 42, movement 22, water table 46Kings County, NY — combined 39/100, moisture 41, movement 18, water table 66Lewis County, NY — combined 34/100, moisture 43, movement 24, water table 30Livingston County, NY — combined 38/100, moisture 35, movement 37, water table 46Madison County, NY — combined 32/100, moisture 44, movement 16, water table 30Monroe County, NY — combined 75/100, moisture 73, movement 64, water table 95Montgomery County, NY — combined 36/100, moisture 43, movement 31, water table 30Nassau County, NY — combined 34/100, moisture 40, movement 18, water table 46New York County, NY — combined 44/100, moisture 39, movement 36, water table 66Niagara County, NY — combined 41/100, moisture 44, movement 20, water table 66Oneida County, NY — combined 34/100, moisture 40, movement 30, water table 30Onondaga County, NY — combined 70/100, moisture 75, movement 55, water table 82Ontario County, NY — combined 36/100, moisture 38, movement 37, water table 30Orange County, NY — combined 43/100, moisture 44, movement 25, water table 66Orleans County, NY — combined 32/100, moisture 44, movement 16, water table 30Oswego County, NY — combined 71/100, moisture 70, movement 65, water table 82Otsego County, NY — combined 43/100, moisture 43, movement 25, water table 66Putnam County, NY — combined 42/100, moisture 42, movement 25, water table 66Queens County, NY — combined 43/100, moisture 42, movement 27, water table 66Rensselaer County, NY — combined 44/100, moisture 44, movement 27, water table 66Richmond County, NY — combined 49/100, moisture 42, movement 34, water table 82Rockland County, NY — combined 42/100, moisture 42, movement 25, water table 66Saratoga County, NY — combined 44/100, moisture 43, movement 29, water table 66Schenectady County, NY — combined 42/100, moisture 42, movement 25, water table 66Schoharie County, NY — combined 33/100, moisture 43, movement 22, water table 30Schuyler County, NY — combined 42/100, moisture 37, movement 45, water table 46Seneca County, NY — combined 41/100, moisture 38, movement 53, water table 30St. Lawrence County, NY — combined 42/100, moisture 42, movement 26, water table 66Steuben County, NY — combined 36/100, moisture 34, movement 42, water table 30Suffolk County, NY — combined 40/100, moisture 39, movement 22, water table 66Sullivan County, NY — combined 38/100, moisture 37, movement 45, water table 30Tioga County, NY — combined 38/100, moisture 36, movement 35, water table 46Tompkins County, NY — combined 32/100, moisture 38, movement 25, water table 30Ulster County, NY — combined 36/100, moisture 42, movement 21, water table 46Warren County, NY — combined 38/100, moisture 42, movement 12, water table 66Washington County, NY — combined 31/100, moisture 42, movement 17, water table 30Wayne County, NY — combined 75/100, moisture 72, movement 75, water table 82Westchester County, NY — combined 42/100, moisture 35, movement 48, water table 46Wyoming County, NY — combined 37/100, moisture 38, movement 30, water table 46Yates County, NY — combined 38/100, moisture 33, movement 40, water table 46
  • 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
Monroe County75736495Glaciolacustrine lake plain
Wayne County75727582Glaciolacustrine lake plain
Oswego County71706582Glaciolacustrine lake plain
Onondaga County70755582Glaciolacustrine lake plain
Richmond County49423482Atlantic coastal plain
Broome County44385246Appalachian Plateau
Genesee County44413366Glaciated New England upland
New York County44393666Atlantic coastal plain
Rensselaer County44442766Glaciated New England upland
Saratoga County44432966Glaciated New England upland
Chenango County43412966Glaciated New England upland
Orange County43442566Glaciated New England upland
Otsego County43432566Glaciated New England upland
Queens County43422766Atlantic coastal plain
Greene County42392966Glaciated New England upland
Putnam County42422566Glaciated New England upland
Rockland County42422566Glaciated New England upland
Schenectady County42422566Glaciated New England upland
Schuyler County42374546Appalachian Plateau
St. Lawrence County42422666Glaciated New England upland
Westchester County42354846Piedmont
Bronx County41402366Atlantic coastal plain
Erie County41344846Appalachian Plateau
Hamilton County41392766Glaciated New England upland
Niagara County41442066Glaciated New England upland
Seneca County41385330Appalachian Plateau
Fulton County40411966Glaciated New England upland
Suffolk County40392266Atlantic coastal plain
Delaware County39384830Appalachian Plateau
Kings County39411866Atlantic coastal plain
Columbia County38391666Glaciated New England upland
Livingston County38353746Appalachian Plateau
Sullivan County38374530Appalachian Plateau
Tioga County38363546Appalachian Plateau
Warren County38421266Glaciated New England upland
Yates County38334046Appalachian Plateau
Allegany County37383046Appalachian Plateau
Chemung County37343446Appalachian Plateau
Dutchess County37422546Glaciated New England upland
Jefferson County37422246Glaciated New England upland
Wyoming County37383046Appalachian Plateau
Montgomery County36433130Glaciated New England upland
Ontario County36383730Appalachian Plateau
Steuben County36344230Appalachian Plateau
Ulster County36422146Glaciated New England upland
Albany County35421746Glaciated New England upland
Clinton County35431646Glaciated New England upland
Cattaraugus County34343830Appalachian Plateau
Herkimer County34422530Glaciated New England upland
Lewis County34432430Glaciated New England upland
Nassau County34401846Atlantic coastal plain
Oneida County34403030Glaciated New England upland
Schoharie County33432230Glaciated New England upland
Cayuga County32343030Appalachian Plateau
Chautauqua County32372630Appalachian Plateau
Essex County32402330Glaciated New England upland
Madison County32441630Glaciated New England upland
Orleans County32441630Glaciated New England upland
Tompkins County32382530Appalachian Plateau
Franklin County31421630Glaciated New England upland
Washington County31421730Glaciated New England upland
Cortland County29391330Glaciated New England upland

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

The physiographic regions inside New York

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

Glaciated New England upland

A hardpan under thin till creates a perched water table — water stands above an impermeable layer even though the regional water table is deep. It is the commonest cause of a wet basement in New England. Expansive clay is largely absent.

32 counties: Albany County, Chenango County, Clinton County, Columbia County, Cortland County, Dutchess County, Essex County, Franklin County, Fulton County, Genesee County, Greene County, Hamilton County, Herkimer County, Jefferson County, Lewis County, Madison County, Montgomery County, Niagara County, Oneida County, Orange County, Orleans County, Otsego County, Putnam County, Rensselaer County, Rockland County, Saratoga County, Schenectady County, Schoharie County, St. Lawrence County, Ulster County, Warren County, Washington County

Appalachian Plateau

Water travels over bedrock under a thin skin of colluvium. A house cut into a hillside has an entire catchment behind its uphill wall — what decides the outcome here is a daylight drain, not a coating.

18 counties: Allegany County, Broome County, Cattaraugus County, Cayuga County, Chautauqua County, Chemung County, Delaware County, Erie County, Livingston County, Ontario County, Schuyler County, Seneca County, Steuben County, Sullivan County, Tioga County, Tompkins County, Wyoming County, Yates County

Atlantic coastal plain

Extremely variable over short distances: sand and saturated clay side by side. A county figure means less here than anywhere else we cover — the individual parcel decides.

7 counties: Bronx County, Kings County, Nassau County, New York County, Queens County, Richmond County, Suffolk 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.

4 counties: Monroe County, Onondaga County, Oswego County, Wayne County

Piedmont

Saprolite is weathered rock that keeps its structure, so water moves through it along relict joints unpredictably. The Triassic basins inside the Piedmont are islands of strongly expansive clay.

1 counties: Westchester County

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