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Hawaii soil by county

Across Hawaii's mapped land, shrink-swell clay limits houses without basements on 5% and a shallow water table limits basements on 5%.

Highest clay shares: Honolulu County (12%), Kauai County (5%), Maui County (4%), Hawaii County (4%). Highest water-table shares: Kauai County (8%), Maui County (5%), Hawaii County (4%), Honolulu County (4%).

Data as of September 22, 2026 · 5 counties

Hawaii County: 4%Honolulu County: 12%Kalawao County: no dataKauai County: 5%Maui County: 4%
Expansive clay: share of mapped land where shrink-swell clay limits houses without basementsunder 10%10-25%25-40%40-60%60%+
Hawaii County: 4%Honolulu County: 4%Kalawao County: no dataKauai County: 8%Maui County: 5%
High water table: share of mapped land where a shallow water table limits basementsunder 10%10-25%25-40%40-60%60%+

Every county in Hawaii

Select a column heading to sort.
Hawaii County 4% 4% 0% 85 1989
Honolulu County 12% 4% 0% 866 1977
Kalawao County n/a n/a 0% 0 1939
Kauai County 5% 8% 0% 351 1983
Maui County 4% 5% 0% 309 1985

How these shares are counted

Shares are of mapped land in USDA's soil survey (SSURGO), weighted by each soil's share of every map unit. Drought is the US Drought Monitor's D1-or-worse share on the September 22, 2026 map. Flood losses are FEMA NFIP records since 2016. Sources and methods.