Crawl space moisture in Bulloch County, GA

Bulloch County scores elevated because several moderate signals stack up rather than one dominant one. Where a seasonal water table is reported — 84% of acres — it averages 2.1 ft below grade.

Size venting or encapsulation

1Water table 2.1 ft
2Wet soils 48%
3Moisture score 41
4EPA radon zone 3

Share of mapped soil acres in Bulloch County, GA by NRCS drainage class (dominant condition), bars to scale; wetter classes highlighted. Covers 98% of mapped acres.

Dominant drainage

Well drained

40% of acres

Group D soils

38%

slow infiltration

Flood-prone acres

32%

any flooding frequency

Ponding

0.5%

acres where water ponds

Reading the Bulloch County soil survey

The score of 41 combines four parts, each from the USDA survey: wet drainage classes contribute 44.7 points of 100 on their own scale, group D soils 25.2, a shallow water table 56.5, and flooding 26.2; the weights are on the methodology page. The dominant hydrologic group is B (33% of acres): moderate infiltration.

Hydrologic soil groups in Bulloch 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 84% 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.

Bulloch County against the rest of Georgia

Bulloch County ranks 9 of 59 Georgia counties, 26 points above the state median of 15. That puts it in the wettest quarter of the state. Statewide, 25% of mapped soil is in the wet drainage classes; here it is 48%, half again the state figure or more. After well drained, the next most common class is poorly drained at 30%.

Flooding. 17.6% of acres with a flooding class are rated frequent; 14.4% of acres with a flooding class are rated occasional. That is a large flood-prone share; a crawl space in the floodplain needs flood vents under most local floodplain ordinances, which is a separate rule from R408 and can rule out a fully sealed design.

What it means for a crawl space here

In an elevated county the soil supplies more moisture than average, but a vented crawl space can work if the ground is covered: the code lets vent area drop from 1 sq ft per 150 to 1 per 1500 with a Class I vapor retarder on the ground, which is an admission of how much moisture comes from below. Grading, gutters and a ground cover usually decide whether a crawl space here stays dry before any decision about sealing it.

Radon. EPA radon zone 3. The zone is a county-level prediction; EPA says elevated levels occur in every zone and every home should be tested.

Near Bulloch County by score

Screven County 42 Candler County 39 Jenkins County 38 Tift County 36

All 59 Georgia counties

Sources: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access (muaggatt: drclassdcd, hydgrpdcd, flodfreqdcd, pondfreqprs, wtdepannmin), acreage-weighted (survey area GA031; drainage covers 98% of 440,800 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.