HomeSoil seriesHouston Black
Houston Black soil series
Houston Black soils cover 1,414,933 mapped acres, almost all of them in Texas. USDA rates shrink-swell a limit for houses without basements on 91% of that land, and a shallow water table a limit for basements on 0%.
It is the leading soil series by area in 88 of the counties and cities on this site, including Collin County, TX; Rockwall County, TX; Ellis County, TX.
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 Houston Black series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, very slowly permeable soils that formed in clayey residuum derived from calcareous mudstone of Cretaceous Age. These nearly level to moderately sloping soils occur on interfluves and side slopes on upland ridges and plains on dissected plains. Slopes are mainly 1 to 3 percent but range from 0 to 8 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 889 mm (35 in) and the mean annual air temperature is about 20.6 degrees C (69 degrees F).
Vertic features, from the same description: "slickensides at a depth of 61 to 203 cm (24 to 80 in) depth."
Source: USDA NRCS series description (OSD) for Houston Black, revised 2017-08. Read it.
Engineering properties
| Mapped area (SSURGO) | 1,414,933 acres |
| Shrink-swell limits houses without basements | 91.2% |
| Shallow water table limits basements | 0.0% |
| Very limited for septic absorption fields | 91.2% |
| Most common drainage class | Moderately well drained |
| Most common hydrologic soil group | D |
| Taxonomic class | Fine, smectitic, thermic Udic Haplusterts |
| Type location | Travis County, Texas |
Where Houston Black is mapped
| State | Mapped acres |
|---|---|
| Texas | 1,414,933 |
Places where Houston Black leads
Counties and cities where Houston Black covers more mapped land than any other series.
| Place | Share of mapped land |
|---|---|
| Mobile City, TX | 82% |
| Barry, TX | 76% |
| Itasca, TX | 75% |
| Nevada, TX | 71% |
| Malone, TX | 70% |
| Rogers, TX | 69% |
| Converse, TX | 68% |
| Palmer, TX | 68% |
| Murphy, TX | 68% |
| Bardwell, TX | 66% |
| Talty, TX | 65% |
| Forney, TX | 64% |
| Mart, TX | 63% |
| Lavon, TX | 63% |
| Fate, TX | 59% |
| Princeton, TX | 59% |
| Santa Clara, TX | 57% |
| Frost, TX | 57% |
| Italy, TX | 56% |
| St. Paul, TX | 55% |
| Creedmoor, TX | 55% |
| Manor, TX | 55% |
| Plano, TX | 54% |
| Buckholts, TX | 53% |
| Parker, TX | 52% |
| McLendon-Chisholm, TX | 52% |
| Mertens, TX | 52% |
| Crandall, TX | 51% |
| Anna, TX | 51% |
| Allen, TX | 51% |
| Moody, TX | 50% |
| Pecan Hill, TX | 49% |
| Celeste, TX | 49% |
| Lucas, TX | 48% |
| Lowry Crossing, TX | 47% |
| Uhland, TX | 46% |
| Hebron, TX | 45% |
| Melissa, TX | 44% |
| Weston, TX | 44% |
| Pflugerville, TX | 44% |
| Rockwall, TX | 44% |
| Heath, TX | 43% |
| Farmersville, TX | 43% |
| Ferris, TX | 42% |
| Celina, TX | 41% |
| McKinney, TX | 40% |
| Roxton, TX | 40% |
| Blue Ridge, TX | 40% |
| Sachse, TX | 40% |
| Mustang Ridge, TX | 39% |
| Collin County, TX | 39% |
| Prosper, TX | 37% |
| Rowlett, TX | 37% |
| Niederwald, TX | 37% |
| Lott, TX | 36% |
| Richardson, TX | 36% |
| Rockwall County, TX | 35% |
| Waxahachie, TX | 34% |
| Frisco, TX | 34% |
| Universal City, TX | 33% |
| Emhouse, TX | 32% |
| Lancaster, TX | 32% |
| Fairview, TX | 30% |
| Windcrest, TX | 29% |
| Wilmer, TX | 29% |
| Royse City, TX | 27% |
| Mesquite, TX | 26% |
| Robinson, TX | 26% |
| Farmers Branch, TX | 25% |
| Hutchins, TX | 24% |
| Hillsboro, TX | 23% |
| Wylie, TX | 22% |
| University Park, TX | 22% |
| Schertz, TX | 21% |
| Golinda, TX | 21% |
| Garland, TX | 20% |
| Leon Valley, TX | 19% |
| Ellis County, TX | 19% |
| Temple, TX | 18% |
| Hill County, TX | 15% |
| San Marcos, TX | 15% |
| Carrollton, TX | 13% |
| Dallas County, TX | 12% |
| Grand Prairie, TX | 12% |
| Bell County, TX | 11% |
| Arlington, TX | 10% |
| Lamar County, TX | 8% |
| Dallas, TX | 8% |
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.