Iowa / Benton County
Score 42 · elevated · #59 of 99 in IA
Crawl space moisture in Benton County, IA
Benton County scores elevated because several moderate signals stack up rather than one dominant one. Where a seasonal water table is reported — 74% of acres — it averages 2.1 ft below grade.
- 1Water table 2.1 ft
- 2Wet soils 37%
- 3Moisture score 42
- 4EPA radon zone 1
Reading the Benton County soil survey
The score of 42 combines four parts, each from the USDA survey: wet drainage classes contribute 46.6 points of 100 on their own scale, group D soils 38.9, a shallow water table 50.2, and flooding 8.3; the weights are on the methodology page. The dominant hydrologic group is C (53% of acres): slow infiltration (clay layers).
At 2.1 ft the seasonal water table is usually below a crawl-space floor, but the 74% 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.
Benton County against the rest of Iowa
Benton County ranks 59 of 99 Iowa counties, 5 points below the state median of 47. Wetter counties exist in Iowa, but the soil here still sits well above the national middle. Statewide, 44% of mapped soil is in the wet drainage classes; here it is 37%, below the state figure — the score here comes from a shallow water table rather than drainage class alone. After moderately well drained, the next most common class is poorly drained at 26%.
Flooding. 2.7% of acres with a flooding class are rated frequent; 8.7% of acres with a flooding class are rated occasional; 2.3% 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 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. Benton County is in EPA radon zone 1, the highest predicted potential. A sealed crawl space and a radon system share most of their parts — the liner, the sealed seams, a fan — so if you are encapsulating, test for radon first and design both together. EPA itself says the zone map is not a reason to skip testing in zones 2 and 3.
Near Benton County by score
Sources: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access (muaggatt: drclassdcd, hydgrpdcd, flodfreqdcd, pondfreqprs, wtdepannmin), acreage-weighted (survey area IA011; drainage covers 99% of 459,800 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.