Texas / Bell County
Score 26 · moderate · #52 of 209 in TX
Crawl space moisture in Bell County, TX
78% of Bell 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 — 2% of acres — it averages 3 ft below grade.
- 1Water table 3 ft
- 2Wet soils 0%
- 3Moisture score 26
- 4EPA radon zone 3
Reading the Bell County soil survey
The score of 26 combines four parts, each from the USDA survey: wet drainage classes contribute 9.1 points of 100 on their own scale, group D soils 83.8, a shallow water table 1.1, and flooding 7.1; the weights are on the methodology page. The dominant hydrologic group is D (78% of acres): very slow infiltration, high runoff (clays, high water table).
At 3 ft the seasonal water table is usually below a crawl-space floor, but the 2% 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.
Bell County against the rest of Texas
Bell County ranks 52 of 209 Texas counties, 8 points above the state median of 18. That puts it in the wettest quarter of the state. Statewide, 6% of mapped soil is in the wet drainage classes; here it is 0%, below the state figure — the score here comes from heavy group D soils rather than drainage class alone. After well drained, the next most common class is moderately well drained at 27%.
Flooding. 5.1% of acres with a flooding class are rated frequent; 3.4% of acres with a flooding class are rated occasional; 0% of acres with a flooding class are rated very 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 Bell County by score
Sources: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access (muaggatt: drclassdcd, hydgrpdcd, flodfreqdcd, pondfreqprs, wtdepannmin), acreage-weighted (survey area TX027; drainage covers 97% of 695,347 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.