Pennsylvania / Lackawanna County
Score 39 · moderate · #13 of 67 in PA
Crawl space moisture in Lackawanna County, PA
55% of Lackawanna County's soil falls in hydrologic group D or a dual D group: clays and high water tables that shed water slowly. Where a seasonal water table is reported — 53% of acres — it averages 1.2 ft below grade, shallow enough to reach a typical crawl-space footing.
- 1Water table 1.2 ft
- 2Wet soils 31%
- 3Moisture score 39
- 4EPA radon zone 1
Reading the Lackawanna County soil survey
The score of 39 combines four parts, each from the USDA survey: wet drainage classes contribute 29.7 points of 100 on their own scale, group D soils 63.4, a shallow water table 43.7, and flooding 2.2; the weights are on the methodology page. The dominant hydrologic group is D (53% of acres): very slow infiltration, high runoff (clays, high water table).
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 on the soils that report a water table — about 53% of Lackawanna County's acres. Venting cannot fix that; it needs drainage — a perimeter drain to daylight or a sump — before any liner goes down.
Lackawanna County against the rest of Pennsylvania
Lackawanna County ranks 13 of 67 Pennsylvania counties, 14 points above the state median of 25. That puts it in the wettest quarter of the state. Statewide, 16% of mapped soil is in the wet drainage classes; here it is 31%, half again the state figure or more. After well drained, the next most common class is somewhat poorly drained at 22%.
Flooding. 1.9% of acres with a flooding class are rated frequent; 0.5% of acres with a flooding class are rated occasional; 0.1% 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. Lackawanna 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 Lackawanna County by score
Sources: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access (muaggatt: drclassdcd, hydgrpdcd, flodfreqdcd, pondfreqprs, wtdepannmin), acreage-weighted (survey area PA069; drainage covers 87% of 297,600 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.