What are foundation conditions like in Enid, Oklahoma?
In short: About 40% of Enid is mapped in soils rated high shrink-swell and 19% moderate 1.
What does the soil survey show for Enid?
Enid covers about 74 square miles 2 and had 51,308 people in the 2020 Census 2.
| Measure | Share of the area |
|---|---|
| High shrink-swell soil (linear extensibility 6% or more) | 40% 1 |
| Moderate shrink-swell (3% to under 6%) | 19% 1 |
| Low shrink-swell (under 3%) | 28% 1 |
| Somewhat poorly or poorly drained | 8% 1 |
| Water table within 2 feet at some time of year | 24% 1 |
| Bedrock within 40 inches (soft or hard) | 9% 1 |
| Occasional or frequent flooding | 5% 1 |
Which soils matter most for houses in Enid?
- Bethany, about 12% of the area 1: Very deep, well drained soils that formed in loess or alluvium of Pleistocene age over shale of Permian age 3.
- Grant, about 10% of the area 1: Deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils 4.
- Lovedale, about 10% of the area 1: Very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in old alluvium 5.
- Carwile, about 7% of the area 1: Very deep, poorly drained, slowly permeable soils that formed in loamy alluvium or eolian sediments of Pleistocene age 6.
- Pond Creek, about 7% of the area 1: Very deep, well drained soils that formed in calcareous loamy material high in silt and very fine sand which was derived from a combination of loess, alluvium, residuum from red beds 7.
- Kirkland, about 8%, is land the survey does not rate as soil 1.
What does this mean for houses in Enid?
Clay that swells and shrinks. Where high shrink-swell soil sits under a house, wet spells lift the slab edges and drought drops them, and uneven watering does more harm than uniform change. See perimeter wetting heave, edge drop in drought and tree-root drying.
Which soils cover Enid?
| Soil | Share |
|---|---|
| Bethany | 12.2% 1 |
| Grant | 10.0% 1 |
| Lovedale | 9.7% 1 |
| Kirkland | 8.5% 1 |
| Carwile | 7.0% 1 |
| Pond Creek | 6.9% 1 |
| Eda | 6.7% 1 |
| Tabler | 5.5% 1 |
Looking for a foundation company near Enid?
Companies that serve Enid can appear on the company map in the Homeowner Hub. Paid listings there are marked Sponsored; the library and the AI guide don't rank or recommend any of them.
Buying or selling a house in Enid? Realtors who serve the area can be on the same map, also marked Sponsored, and for realtors covers the seller disclosure form, inspections and the sale timeline. Seeing cracks at home? Start with for homeowners.
How were these numbers measured?
We overlaid the city limits from the Census Bureau 2 on the USDA soil survey's map units 1 and added up the area of each soil. Where a map unit is a mix of soils, its area was split by the percentages the survey lists for its major soils, so shares leave out minor inclusions and do not add to 100%. Shrink-swell is rated by the linear extensibility of a soil's most expansive layer, the survey's measure of how much it changes length between wet and dry (6% or more is high). Water table, bedrock and flooding come from the survey's map-unit summaries: the shallowest water table in any month, the shallowest bedrock, and the most common flooding frequency. Bedrock here includes soft, weathered sandstone and shale that a pier can push through, so it is not the depth where piers stop. These are mapped averages, not a test of any one lot; fill, grading and the soil actually under a house can differ, which is why a site visit or soil boring still decides a repair.
Related
- North-central red prairies
- Blackwell
- Guthrie
- Stillwater
- Ponca City
- Compare Oklahoma cities
- Shrink-swell and the active zone
Common questions
How much of Enid has expansive clay soil?
About 40% of Enid is mapped in soils rated high shrink-swell, 19% moderate and 28% low, measured inside the city limits from the USDA soil survey.
What is the most common soil in Enid?
Bethany, which covers about 12% of the city. USDA describes it as very deep, well drained soils that formed in loess or alluvium of Pleistocene age over shale of Permian age.
Is rock shallow in Enid?
Bedrock is within 40 inches of the surface under about 9% of the city, according to the USDA soil survey's map-unit data.
Does Enid have high groundwater or flooding?
The soil survey maps a water table within 2 feet of the surface at some time of year under about 24% of the city, and occasional or frequent flooding on about 5%.
Sources
- Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO), queried through Soil Data Access, November 2026 USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
- TIGERweb, 2020 Census: Incorporated Places and ZIP Code Tabulation Areas U.S. Census Bureau
- Official Soil Series Description: BETHANY Series USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Official Soil Series Description: GRANT Series USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Official Soil Series Description: LOVEDALE Series USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Official Soil Series Description: CARWILE Series USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Official Soil Series Description: POND CREEK Series USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
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