Minnesota / Nicollet County
Score 60 · high · #17 of 87 in MN
Crawl space moisture in Nicollet County, MN
71% of Nicollet 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 — 89% of acres — it averages 0.9 ft below grade, shallow enough to reach a typical crawl-space footing.
- 1Water table 0.9 ft
- 2Wet soils 71%
- 3Moisture score 60
- 4EPA radon zone 1
Reading the Nicollet County soil survey
The score of 60 combines four parts, each from the USDA survey: wet drainage classes contribute 71.1 points of 100 on their own scale, group D soils 48.5, a shallow water table 76.5, and flooding 3.9; the weights are on the methodology page. The dominant hydrologic group is C/D (69% 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 Nicollet County. Venting cannot fix that; it needs drainage — a perimeter drain to daylight or a sump — before any liner goes down.
Nicollet County against the rest of Minnesota
Nicollet County ranks 17 of 87 Minnesota counties, 13 points above the state median of 47. That puts it in the wettest quarter of the state. Statewide, 55% of mapped soil is in the wet drainage classes; here it is 71%. After poorly drained, the next most common class is somewhat poorly drained at 15%.
Flooding. 1.5% of acres with a flooding class are rated frequent; 3.9% of acres with a flooding class are rated occasional; 0.2% 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 high county, the model-code default of a vented crawl space over bare earth works against the soil: outside air brings humidity in all summer, and the ground underneath keeps supplying moisture from below. The R408 alternative — an unvented crawl space with a sealed vapor retarder lapped 6 inches and turned 6 inches up the stem wall, plus conditioned or exhaust air at 1 cfm per 50 sq ft or a dehumidifier — is built for exactly this. If the water table is shallow, drainage comes first.
Radon. Nicollet 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 Nicollet County by score
Sources: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access (muaggatt: drclassdcd, hydgrpdcd, flodfreqdcd, pondfreqprs, wtdepannmin), acreage-weighted (survey area MN103; drainage covers 96% of 298,800 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.