Minnesota / Polk County
Score 54 · elevated · #29 of 87 in MN
Crawl space moisture in Polk County, MN
75% of Polk 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 — 88% of acres — it averages 1.4 ft below grade, shallow enough to reach a typical crawl-space footing.
- 1Water table 1.4 ft
- 2Wet soils 75%
- 3Moisture score 54
- 4EPA radon zone 1
Reading the Polk County soil survey
The score of 54 combines four parts, each from the USDA survey: wet drainage classes contribute 67.6 points of 100 on their own scale, group D soils 35.7, a shallow water table 69.5, and flooding 1.6; the weights are on the methodology page. The dominant hydrologic group is C (29% of acres): slow infiltration (clay layers).
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 Polk County. Venting cannot fix that; it needs drainage — a perimeter drain to daylight or a sump — before any liner goes down.
Polk County against the rest of Minnesota
Polk County ranks 29 of 87 Minnesota counties, 7 points above 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 75%. After poorly drained, the next most common class is somewhat poorly drained at 33%.
Flooding. 0.7% of acres with a flooding class are rated frequent; 1.1% of acres with a flooding class are rated occasional. 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. Polk 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 Polk County by score
Sources: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access (muaggatt: drclassdcd, hydgrpdcd, flodfreqdcd, pondfreqprs, wtdepannmin), acreage-weighted (survey area MN119; drainage covers 98% of 1,278,000 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.