Park County, Montana
USDA's soil survey flags shrink-swell clay on 11% of Park County's mapped land and a shallow water table under basements on 4%, both below the national shares of 15% and 29%. The soil survey maps 89% of the county's land area; these shares describe the mapped part.
0.2% of the county is in drought on the October 13, 2026 Drought Monitor map, down from 24% a week earlier. FEMA's flood data list 36 flood losses here since 2016, 31% of them in buildings with basements. 51% of homes were built before 1980, against 50% nationally; the median home dates from 1980.
Data as of October 13, 2026 · sources
expansive clay: shrink-swell limits slab homes
high water table: limits basements
in drought, October 13, 2026
of homes built before 1980
Soil under Park County
| Expansive clay (limits slab homes) | 11.0% |
| High water table (limits basements) | 3.9% |
| Septic fields very limited | 54.2% |
| Clay swell (LEP, by area) | 3.7% |
| High-swell land (LEP 6%+) | 12.6% |
| Mapped soil | 1,593,856 acres |
| Soil series | Share here | Series nationally: expansive clay |
|---|---|---|
| Bacbuster | 4% | n/a |
| Cabba | 3% | n/a |
| Tamaneen | 2% | n/a |
| Vershal | 1% | n/a |
| Bigbear | 1% | n/a |
| Shawmut | 1% | n/a |
How we count · survey areas MT623 (2025-08-30), MT640 (2025-09-02), MT669 (2025-09-03)
What the numbers mean here
Rain over the 12 months to August 2026: 26.48 in, 0.36 in above the 1991-2020 average year of 26.12 in.
USDA rates 54% of the land very limited for septic absorption fields.
With shrink-swell clay on 11% and a shallow water table on 4% of the land, the soil survey points to neither problem across most of Park County; conditions still vary lot by lot.
Drought
0.2% of the county is in drought (D1 or worse) on the October 13, 2026 map. Part of the county was in drought in 47 of the last 52 weeks; the most was 100% of its area, in 14 weeks, most recently on the August 25, 2026 map.
| Category, October 13, 2026 | Share of county |
|---|---|
| D0 abnormally dry or worse | 89.4% |
| D1 moderate drought or worse | 0.2% |
| D2 severe or worse | 0% |
| D3 extreme or worse | 0% |
| D4 exceptional | 0% |
Flood losses since 2016
36 flood losses since 2016, $2.5 million paid. The worst year was 2022, with 34. Foundations of the buildings, where recorded: 31% basements, 31% slabs, 31% crawl spaces, 6% elevated. Median water depth outside the building: 23 in.
| Year | Flood losses |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 0 |
| 2017 | 0 |
| 2018 | 1 |
| 2019 | 0 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2022 | 34 |
| 2023 | 0 |
| 2024 | 0 |
| 2025 | 0 |
| 2026 to date | 0 |
Rain
| Average year, 1991-2020 | 26.12 in |
| 12 months to August 2026 | 26.48 in (+0.36) |
| 2025 | 27.45 in (+1.33) |
| Wettest year since 1895 | 1967: 34.79 in |
| Driest year since 1895 | 1939: 17.84 in |
| Days with 1 inch or more, normal at LIVINGSTON 12 S (2 mi away) | 0.9 |
Homes
| Housing units | 9,635 |
| Median year built | 1980 |
| Built before 1980 | 51% |
| Built 2000 or later | 26% |
| Owner-occupied | 69% |
| Median value, owner-occupied | $467,500 |
| Single-family detached | 76% |
What repairs cost
Published ranges from cost guides, not quotes. More sources, and where they disagree.
Nearby counties
| Place | Distance | Expansive clay | High water table |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gallatin County, MT | 31 mi | 9% | 9% |
| Sweet Grass County, MT | 37 mi | 16% | 5% |
| Stillwater County, MT | 57 mi | 26% | 5% |
| Madison County, MT | 68 mi | 3% | 4% |
| Carbon County, MT | 75 mi | 30% | 2% |
| Broadwater County, MT | 76 mi | 1% | 3% |
| Wheatland County, MT | 78 mi | n/a | n/a |
| Meagher County, MT | 81 mi | n/a | n/a |
Sources: USDA SSURGO (September 3, 2025) · US Drought Monitor (October 13, 2026) · FEMA NFIP v3 (September 9, 2026) · NOAA (August 2026) · Census ACS 2020-2024. Methods · Data status