BasementSoil

Utah: basement moisture and foundation risk by county

29 counties, ranked by our combined index. Highest combined risk is San Juan County (54), lowest is Millard County (33). The worst soil for foundation cracks specifically is in San Juan County.

Where in Utah 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.

Beaver County, UT — combined 35/100, moisture 34, movement 39, water table 30Box Elder County, UT — combined 35/100, moisture 34, movement 40, water table 30Cache County, UT — combined 45/100, moisture 37, movement 66, water table 30Carbon County, UT — combined 40/100, moisture 34, movement 66, water table 16Daggett County, UT — combined 45/100, moisture 37, movement 67, water table 30Davis County, UT — combined 41/100, moisture 37, movement 55, water table 30Duchesne County, UT — combined 43/100, moisture 34, movement 65, water table 30Emery County, UT — combined 43/100, moisture 34, movement 66, water table 30Garfield County, UT — combined 43/100, moisture 37, movement 71, water table 16Grand County, UT — combined 48/100, moisture 34, movement 80, water table 30Iron County, UT — combined 39/100, moisture 36, movement 49, water table 30Juab County, UT — combined 35/100, moisture 37, movement 35, water table 30Kane County, UT — combined 40/100, moisture 33, movement 68, water table 16Millard County, UT — combined 33/100, moisture 34, movement 35, water table 30Morgan County, UT — combined 47/100, moisture 34, movement 76, water table 30Piute County, UT — combined 41/100, moisture 36, movement 56, water table 30Rich County, UT — combined 40/100, moisture 34, movement 56, water table 30Salt Lake County, UT — combined 38/100, moisture 33, movement 50, water table 30San Juan County, UT — combined 54/100, moisture 35, movement 98, water table 30Sanpete County, UT — combined 47/100, moisture 37, movement 72, water table 30Sevier County, UT — combined 34/100, moisture 33, movement 39, water table 30Summit County, UT — combined 45/100, moisture 37, movement 76, water table 16Tooele County, UT — combined 43/100, moisture 34, movement 65, water table 30Uintah County, UT — combined 47/100, moisture 33, movement 80, water table 30Utah County, UT — combined 38/100, moisture 37, movement 44, water table 30Wasatch County, UT — combined 46/100, moisture 34, movement 75, water table 30Washington County, UT — combined 45/100, moisture 34, movement 71, water table 30Wayne County, UT — combined 43/100, moisture 34, movement 74, water table 16Weber County, UT — combined 42/100, moisture 34, movement 62, water table 30
  • 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
San Juan County54359830Colorado Plateau
Grand County48348030Colorado Plateau
Morgan County47347630Basin and Range
Sanpete County47377230Basin and Range
Uintah County47338030Colorado Plateau
Wasatch County46347530Basin and Range
Cache County45376630Basin and Range
Daggett County45376730Colorado Plateau
Summit County45377616Basin and Range
Washington County45347130Basin and Range
Duchesne County43346530Colorado Plateau
Emery County43346630Colorado Plateau
Garfield County43377116Basin and Range
Tooele County43346530Basin and Range
Wayne County43347416Basin and Range
Weber County42346230Basin and Range
Davis County41375530Basin and Range
Piute County41365630Basin and Range
Carbon County40346616Colorado Plateau
Kane County40336816Basin and Range
Rich County40345630Colorado Plateau
Iron County39364930Basin and Range
Salt Lake County38335030Basin and Range
Utah County38374430Basin and Range
Beaver County35343930Basin and Range
Box Elder County35344030Basin and Range
Juab County35373530Basin and Range
Sevier County34333930Basin and Range
Millard County33343530Basin and Range

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

The physiographic regions inside Utah

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

Basin and Range

Semi-arid, but the lacustrine clays on the basin floors are expansive while parts of the fans are collapsible — they settle when wetted. Two opposite failure modes in one metropolitan area.

21 counties: Beaver County, Box Elder County, Cache County, Davis County, Garfield County, Iron County, Juab County, Kane County, Millard County, Morgan County, Piute County, Salt Lake County, Sanpete County, Sevier County, Summit County, Tooele County, Utah County, Wasatch County, Washington County, Wayne County, Weber County

Colorado Plateau

Arid, so groundwater is rarely the problem, but Mancos Shale is strongly expansive and some soils are also gypsiferous, which dissolves. Two mechanisms that both move a footing without any water reaching the basement.

8 counties: Carbon County, Daggett County, Duchesne County, Emery County, Grand County, Rich County, San Juan County, Uintah County

Page data updated