Virginia / Prince George County

Score 39 · moderate · #11 of 95 in VA

Crawl space moisture in Prince George County, VA

57% of Prince George 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 — 89% of acres — it averages 2.1 ft below grade.

Size venting or encapsulation

1234
  1. 1Water table 2.1 ft
  2. 2Wet soils 19%
  3. 3Moisture score 39
  4. 4EPA radon zone 3
Somewhat excessively0%Well37%Moderately well44%Somewhat poorly4%Poorly14%Very poorly1%
Share of mapped soil acres in Prince George County, VA by NRCS drainage class (dominant condition), bars to scale; wetter classes highlighted. Covers 93% of mapped acres.
Dominant drainage
Moderately well drained
44% of acres
Group D soils
57%
slow infiltration
Flood-prone acres
10%
any flooding frequency
Ponding
0%
acres where water ponds

Reading the Prince George County soil survey

The score of 39 combines four parts, each from the USDA survey: wet drainage classes contribute 31.7 points of 100 on their own scale, group D soils 39.9, a shallow water table 60.3, and flooding 9.8; the weights are on the methodology page. The dominant hydrologic group is B (34% of acres): moderate infiltration.

1%A34%B9%C8%D34%B/D16%C/D
Hydrologic soil groups in Prince George 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 2.1 ft the seasonal water table is usually below a crawl-space floor, but the 89% 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.

Prince George County against the rest of Virginia

Prince George County ranks 11 of 95 Virginia counties, 27 points above the state median of 12. That puts it in the wettest quarter of the state. Statewide, 11% of mapped soil is in the wet drainage classes; here it is 19%, half again the state figure or more. After moderately well drained, the next most common class is well drained at 37%.

Flooding. 8.9% of acres with a flooding class are rated frequent; 0.6% 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 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 Prince George County by score

All 95 Virginia counties

Sources: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access (muaggatt: drclassdcd, hydgrpdcd, flodfreqdcd, pondfreqprs, wtdepannmin), acreage-weighted (survey area VA149; drainage covers 93% of 187,200 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.