HomeSoil seriesClarion
Clarion soil series
Clarion soils cover 2,288,255 mapped acres, mostly in Iowa and Minnesota. USDA rates shrink-swell a limit for houses without basements on 0% of that land, and a shallow water table a limit for basements on 61%.
It is the leading soil series by area in 17 of the counties and cities on this site, including Dallas County, IA; Story County, IA; Hardin County, IA.
SSURGO survey versions to August 5, 2026 · series description revised 2005-10
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 Clarion series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils on uplands. These soils formed in glacial till. Slopes range from 1 to 9 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 8 degrees C (47 degrees F). Mean annual precipitation is about 74 centimeters (29 inches).
Source: USDA NRCS series description (OSD) for Clarion, revised 2005-10. Read it.
Engineering properties
| Mapped area (SSURGO) | 2,288,255 acres |
| Shrink-swell limits houses without basements | 0.0% |
| Shallow water table limits basements | 60.6% |
| Very limited for septic absorption fields | 57.6% |
| Most common drainage class | Moderately well drained |
| Most common hydrologic soil group | C |
| Taxonomic class | Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Hapludolls |
| Type location | Hamilton County, Iowa |
Where Clarion is mapped
| State | Mapped acres |
|---|---|
| Iowa | 1,607,744 |
| Minnesota | 680,511 |
Places where Clarion leads
Counties and cities where Clarion covers more mapped land than any other series.
Other places where Clarion is a main soil
Counties and cities where Clarion is among the six soil series covering the most mapped land, but not the first. Share of the place's mapped land.
Counties
- Calhoun County, IA 19%
- Humboldt County, IA 17%
- Pocahontas County, IA 16%
- Kossuth County, IA 16%
- Carroll County, IA 15%
- Martin County, MN 14%
- Sac County, IA 13%
- Hamilton County, IA 13%
- Nobles County, MN 13%
- Wright County, IA 12%
- Webster County, IA 12%
- Watonwan County, MN 11%
- Hancock County, IA 10%
- Guthrie County, IA 9%
- Faribault County, MN 9%
- McLeod County, MN 8%
- Nicollet County, MN 8%
- Clay County, IA 8%
- Sibley County, MN 8%
- Renville County, MN 7%
- Steele County, MN 7%
- Freeborn County, MN 7%
- Waseca County, MN 7%
- Brown County, MN 6%
- Worth County, IA 6%
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.