Minnesota / Kandiyohi County
Score 44 · elevated · #52 of 87 in MN
Crawl space moisture in Kandiyohi County, MN
52% of Kandiyohi County's mapped soil is somewhat poorly to very poorly drained, which means ground that stays wet near the surface for significant periods. Where a seasonal water table is reported — 63% of acres — it averages 0.8 ft below grade, shallow enough to reach a typical crawl-space footing.
- 1Water table 0.8 ft
- 2Wet soils 52%
- 3Moisture score 44
- 4EPA radon zone 1
Reading the Kandiyohi County soil survey
The score of 44 combines four parts, each from the USDA survey: wet drainage classes contribute 53.9 points of 100 on their own scale, group D soils 35.1, a shallow water table 55.2, and flooding 0.3; the weights are on the methodology page. The dominant hydrologic group is C/D (34% of acres): D when undrained, C when drained.
A water table under two feet is the single most important number here. A crawl-space floor is usually 18 to 36 inches below the joists and often below outside grade, so in a wet season groundwater can stand at or above the crawl-space floor across much of Kandiyohi County. Venting cannot fix that; it needs drainage — a perimeter drain to daylight or a sump — before any liner goes down.
Kandiyohi County against the rest of Minnesota
Kandiyohi County ranks 52 of 87 Minnesota counties, 3 points below the state median of 47. Wetter counties exist in Minnesota, but the soil here still sits well above the national middle. Statewide, 55% of mapped soil is in the wet drainage classes; here it is 52%, below the state figure — the score here comes from heavy group D soils rather than drainage class alone. After poorly drained, the next most common class is well drained at 26%.
Flooding. No mapped soil in Kandiyohi County carries a flooding frequency above "none", so the score here is about water held in and under the soil rather than water arriving over it.
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. Kandiyohi 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 Kandiyohi County by score
Sources: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access (muaggatt: drclassdcd, hydgrpdcd, flodfreqdcd, pondfreqprs, wtdepannmin), acreage-weighted (survey area MN067; drainage covers 91% of 552,100 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.