HomeSoil seriesBranyon
Branyon soil series
Branyon soils cover 436,863 mapped acres, almost all of them in Texas. USDA rates shrink-swell a limit for houses without basements on 92% of that land, and a shallow water table a limit for basements on 0%.
It is the leading soil series by area in 18 of the counties and cities on this site.
SSURGO survey versions to August 5, 2026 · series description revised 2017-08
of its land: shrink-swell limits houses without basements
of its land: a shallow water table limits basements
median highest linear extensibility (6% and up is high)
median highest clay content in the top 150 cm
USDA's description
The Branyon series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, very slowly permeable soils that formed in calcareous clayey alluvium derived from mudstone of Pleistocene age. These nearly level to very gently sloping soils occur on treads of stream terraces on river valleys. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 903 mm (35.6 in) and the mean annual air temperature is about 19.9 degrees C (67.9 degrees F).
Vertic features, from the same description: "When dry, cracks 2.5 to 8 cm (1 to 3 in) wide extend from the surface to depths of 51 cm (20 in) or more. Cracks remain open for 90 to 150 days in most years."
Source: USDA NRCS series description (OSD) for Branyon, revised 2017-08. Read it.
Engineering properties
| Mapped area (SSURGO) | 436,863 acres |
| Shrink-swell limits houses without basements | 92.4% |
| Shallow water table limits basements | 0.0% |
| Very limited for septic absorption fields | 92.4% |
| Most common drainage class | Moderately well drained |
| Most common hydrologic soil group | D |
| Taxonomic class | Fine, smectitic, thermic Udic Haplusterts |
| Type location | Caldwell County, Texas |
Where Branyon is mapped
| State | Mapped acres |
|---|---|
| Texas | 435,037 |
| Oklahoma | 1,827 |
Places where Branyon leads
Counties and cities where Branyon covers more mapped land than any other series.
| Place | Share of mapped land |
|---|---|
| Granger, TX | 72% |
| Bartlett, TX | 70% |
| Kirby, TX | 67% |
| Marion, TX | 59% |
| Holland, TX | 57% |
| Hackberry, TX | 56% |
| Lockhart, TX | 51% |
| Hutto, TX | 47% |
| The Colony, TX | 43% |
| Staples, TX | 40% |
| Taylor, TX | 30% |
| Seguin, TX | 29% |
| Little River-Academy, TX | 26% |
| Cibolo, TX | 23% |
| New Braunfels, TX | 21% |
| New Berlin, TX | 21% |
| Little Elm, TX | 13% |
| Waco, TX | 7% |
Other places where Branyon is a main soil
Counties and cities where Branyon is among the six soil series covering the most mapped land, but not the first. Share of the place's mapped land.
Counties
- Williamson County, TX 11%
- Guadalupe County, TX 11%
- Caldwell County, TX 8%
- Ellis County, TX 6%
- Bexar County, TX 6%
Texas and Ohio cities
- Saint Jo, TX 29%
- Windcrest, TX 28%
- Wilmer, TX 25%
- Thrall, TX 25%
- Leroy, TX 24%
- Thorndale, TX 19%
- Coupland, TX 16%
- San Marcos, TX 14%
- Santa Clara, TX 13%
- Frisco, TX 12%
- Uhland, TX 11%
- Robinson, TX 11%
- Shiner, TX 10%
- Trophy Club, TX 10%
- Martindale, TX 10%
- Carrollton, TX 10%
- Red Oak, TX 9%
- Niederwald, TX 9%
- San Antonio, TX 9%
- Midlothian, TX 8%
- Kyle, TX 8%
- Maypearl, TX 8%
- Prosper, TX 7%
- Sunnyvale, TX 7%
- Ennis, TX 7%
- Schertz, TX 7%
- Buda, TX 6%
- Mesquite, TX 5%
- Garland, TX 5%
- Seagoville, TX 5%
- Lancaster, TX 5%
- Cameron, TX 5%
- Luling, TX 5%
- Lewisville, TX 5%
- Grand Prairie, TX 5%
- Rowlett, TX 5%
- Snook, TX 4%
- Josephine, TX 3%
- Converse, TX 2%
- Kerens, TX 2%
- Rosebud, TX 0%
Sources
Shares and properties: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access, weighted by each component's share of its map units. Description: the USDA NRCS series description. How we count.