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Lower Salem, Ohio
Inside Lower Salem's city limits, a shallow water table limits basements on 6% of mapped land. Shrink-swell clay limits houses without basements on 4%, the 5th-highest of 7 cities in Washington County.
That water-table share is below Washington County's 19%. FEMA's flood data list no flood losses since 2016 in ZIP code 45745 overlapping the city.
Data as of October 13, 2026 · sources · in Washington County
expansive clay: shrink-swell limits slab homes
high water table: limits basements
flood losses since 2016 in 1 overlapping ZIP
Basement waterproofing in Lower Salem
Basement waterproofing in Lower Salem: a shallow water table limits basements on 6% of Lower Salem's mapped land.
In Washington County, 23% of the 47 flood-loss buildings with a recorded foundation type had basements.
Soil under Lower Salem city limits
| Expansive clay (limits slab homes) | 4.4% |
| High water table (limits basements) | 5.9% |
| Septic fields very limited | 93.6% |
| Clay swell (LEP, by area) | 1.8% |
| High-swell land (LEP 6%+) | 4.4% |
| Mapped soil | 39 acres |
| Soil series | Share here | Series nationally: high water table |
|---|---|---|
| Hayter | 48% | n/a |
| Chagrin | 29% | n/a |
| Gilpin | 6% | under 1% |
| Dekalb | 4% | n/a |
| Markland | 4% | n/a |
| Orrville | 1% | n/a |
What the numbers mean here
USDA rates 94% of the land very limited for septic absorption fields.
With shrink-swell clay on 4% and a shallow water table on 6% of the land, the soil survey points to neither problem across most of Lower Salem; conditions still vary lot by lot.
Drought in Washington County
0% of Washington County is in drought (D1 or worse) on the October 13, 2026 map. County detail.
Flood losses by ZIP code
FEMA flood records since 2016 in the ZIP codes that overlap Lower Salem. ZIP areas reach past city limits.
| ZIP | Share of city land | Flood losses | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45745 | 100% | 0 | $0 |
Homes
Lower Salem has fewer than 100 housing units in the ACS 2020-2024 estimates, too few for reliable shares.
Nearby cities
| Place | Distance | Expansive clay | High water table |
|---|---|---|---|
| Macksburg | 6 mi | 10% | 22% |
| Lowell | 7 mi | 5% | 13% |
| Dexter City | 8 mi | 46% | 43% |
| Marietta | 10 mi | 40% | 15% |
| Stafford | 12 mi | 17% | 24% |
| Beverly | 13 mi | 2% | 7% |
| Graysville | 13 mi | 23% | 18% |
| Caldwell | 14 mi | 19% | 51% |
Sources: USDA SSURGO (August 5, 2026) · US Drought Monitor (October 13, 2026) · FEMA NFIP v3 (September 9, 2026). Methods · Data status