North Carolina / Hoke County

Score 22 · moderate · #44 of 100 in NC

Crawl space moisture in Hoke County, NC

Hoke County scores moderate: no single wet-soil signal dominates its mapped acres. Where a seasonal water table is reported — 49% of acres — it averages 2.5 ft below grade.

Size venting or encapsulation

1234
  1. 1Water table 2.5 ft
  2. 2Wet soils 18%
  3. 3Moisture score 22
  4. 4EPA radon zone 3
Excessively6%Somewhat excessively13%Well54%Moderately well9%Somewhat poorly1%Poorly8%Very poorly10%
Share of mapped soil acres in Hoke County, NC by NRCS drainage class (dominant condition), bars to scale; wetter classes highlighted. Covers 100% of mapped acres.
Dominant drainage
Well drained
54% of acres
Group D soils
18%
slow infiltration
Flood-prone acres
9%
any flooding frequency
Ponding
0%
acres where water ponds

Reading the Hoke County soil survey

The score of 22 combines four parts, each from the USDA survey: wet drainage classes contribute 20.9 points of 100 on their own scale, group D soils 22.5, a shallow water table 30.4, and flooding 8; the weights are on the methodology page. The dominant hydrologic group is C (37% of acres): slow infiltration (clay layers).

29%A16%B37%C1%D13%A/D2%B/D2%C/D
Hydrologic soil groups in Hoke 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 2.5 ft the seasonal water table is usually below a crawl-space floor, but the 49% 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.

Hoke County against the rest of North Carolina

Hoke County ranks 44 of 100 North Carolina counties, 5 points above the state median of 17. That places it in the middle range, nationally and for the state. Statewide, 30% of mapped soil is in the wet drainage classes; here it is 18%, below the state figure — the score here comes from flooding and ponding rather than drainage class alone. After well drained, the next most common class is somewhat excessively drained at 13%.

Flooding. 7.7% of acres with a flooding class are rated frequent; 1.3% 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 a moderate county the soil record is mixed rather than uniformly wet, so conditions vary from lot to lot. Where the lot drains, the model-code default — a vented crawl space with 1 sq ft of net vent per 150 sq ft of floor, or 1 per 1500 with a Class I vapor retarder on the ground — is a reasonable starting point; where the sections above point to a shallow water table or flood-prone soil on your lot, plan as for an elevated county. Either way, check the site first: grading that falls away from the foundation, gutters and downspouts that discharge well clear of it, and a ground cover over bare earth. A wet crawl space in a moderate county points to one of those first.

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 Hoke County by score

All 100 North Carolina counties

Sources: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access (muaggatt: drclassdcd, hydgrpdcd, flodfreqdcd, pondfreqprs, wtdepannmin), acreage-weighted (survey area NC093; drainage covers 100% of 251,238 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.