Arkansas / Montgomery County

Score 21 · moderate · #52 of 67 in AR

Crawl space moisture in Montgomery County, AR

Montgomery County scores moderate: no single wet-soil signal dominates its mapped acres. Where a seasonal water table is reported — 40% of acres — it averages 2.1 ft below grade.

Size venting or encapsulation

1234
  1. 1Water table 2.1 ft
  2. 2Wet soils 5%
  3. 3Moisture score 21
  4. 4EPA radon zone 2
Somewhat excessively5%Well63%Moderately well28%Somewhat poorly4%Poorly0%Very poorly0%
Share of mapped soil acres in Montgomery County, AR by NRCS drainage class (dominant condition), bars to scale; wetter classes highlighted. Covers 97% of mapped acres.
Dominant drainage
Well drained
63% of acres
Group D soils
23%
slow infiltration
Flood-prone acres
14%
any flooding frequency
Ponding
0%
acres where water ponds

Reading the Montgomery County soil survey

The score of 21 combines four parts, each from the USDA survey: wet drainage classes contribute 12.4 points of 100 on their own scale, group D soils 34.5, a shallow water table 27.2, and flooding 10.9; the weights are on the methodology page. The dominant hydrologic group is C (46% of acres): slow infiltration (clay layers).

4%A27%B46%C18%D1%B/D4%C/D
Hydrologic soil groups in Montgomery County by share of acres, columns to scale. Group D and dual groups (x/D) shed water slowly and hold it near the surface.

At 2.1 ft the seasonal water table is usually below a crawl-space floor, but the 40% of acres that report one are by definition the wettest parts of the county; on those lots, a wet spring can bring water close to the footings.

Montgomery County against the rest of Arkansas

Montgomery County ranks 52 of 67 Arkansas counties, 13 points below the state median of 34. That places it in the middle range, nationally and for the state. Statewide, 33% of mapped soil is in the wet drainage classes; here it is 5%, below the state figure — the score here comes from flooding and ponding rather than drainage class alone. After well drained, the next most common class is moderately well drained at 28%.

Flooding. 8% of acres with a flooding class are rated frequent; 4.5% of acres with a flooding class are rated occasional; 1.3% of acres with a flooding class are rated rare. Flood-prone soils are a minority here, concentrated along streams; the score mostly reflects what happens between floods.

What it means for a crawl space here

In a moderate county the soil record is mixed rather than uniformly wet, so conditions vary from lot to lot. Where the lot drains, the model-code default — a vented crawl space with 1 sq ft of net vent per 150 sq ft of floor, or 1 per 1500 with a Class I vapor retarder on the ground — is a reasonable starting point; where the sections above point to a shallow water table or flood-prone soil on your lot, plan as for an elevated county. Either way, check the site first: grading that falls away from the foundation, gutters and downspouts that discharge well clear of it, and a ground cover over bare earth. A wet crawl space in a moderate county points to one of those first.

Radon. EPA radon zone 2. The zone is a county-level prediction; EPA says elevated levels occur in every zone and every home should be tested.

Near Montgomery County by score

All 67 Arkansas counties

Sources: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access (muaggatt: drclassdcd, hydgrpdcd, flodfreqdcd, pondfreqprs, wtdepannmin), acreage-weighted (survey area AR097; drainage covers 97% of 512,359 mapped acres); EPA Map of Radon Zones, county table (June 2024 JSON); IRC R408.3 Unvented crawl space, as adopted in S.C. Code Regs. 8-1221 (LII). Checked 2026-10-23.