HomeSoil seriesWebster
Webster soil series
Webster soils cover 1,764,242 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 100%.
It is the leading soil series by area in 8 of the counties and cities on this site, including Calhoun County, IA; Pocahontas County, IA; Steele County, MN.
SSURGO survey versions to August 5, 2026 · series description revised 2014-04
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 Webster series consists of very deep, poorly drained, moderately permeable soils formed in glacial till or local alluvium derived from till on uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 48 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation is about 30 inches.
Source: USDA NRCS series description (OSD) for Webster, revised 2014-04. Read it.
Engineering properties
| Mapped area (SSURGO) | 1,764,242 acres |
| Shrink-swell limits houses without basements | 0.0% |
| Shallow water table limits basements | 100.0% |
| Very limited for septic absorption fields | 100.0% |
| Most common drainage class | Poorly drained |
| Most common hydrologic soil group | C/D |
| Taxonomic class | Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Endoaquolls |
| Type location | Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 103 - Central Iowa and Minnesota Till Prairies |
Where Webster is mapped
| State | Mapped acres |
|---|---|
| Iowa | 1,004,978 |
| Minnesota | 759,264 |
Places where Webster leads
Counties and cities where Webster covers more mapped land than any other series.
| Place | Share of mapped land |
|---|---|
| Calhoun County, IA | 24% |
| Pocahontas County, IA | 24% |
| Steele County, MN | 20% |
| Webster County, IA | 18% |
| Brown County, MN | 17% |
| Freeborn County, MN | 14% |
| Watonwan County, MN | 11% |
| Waseca County, MN | 9% |
Other places where Webster is a main soil
Counties and cities where Webster is among the six soil series covering the most mapped land, but not the first. Share of the place's mapped land.
Counties
- Story County, IA 18%
- Greene County, IA 15%
- Cottonwood County, MN 13%
- Humboldt County, IA 13%
- Hancock County, IA 12%
- Nobles County, MN 12%
- Wright County, IA 11%
- Palo Alto County, IA 10%
- Redwood County, MN 10%
- Hardin County, IA 9%
- Scott County, MN 9%
- Boone County, IA 9%
- Winnebago County, IA 9%
- Kossuth County, IA 9%
- Buena Vista County, IA 9%
- Sibley County, MN 9%
- Polk County, IA 9%
- Emmet County, IA 8%
- Franklin County, IA 8%
- Dickinson County, IA 8%
- Dallas County, IA 8%
- Martin County, MN 8%
- Cerro Gordo County, IA 8%
- Hamilton County, IA 7%
- Worth County, IA 7%
- Renville County, MN 6%
- Nicollet County, MN 6%
- Yellow Medicine County, MN 6%
- Murray County, MN 6%
- Faribault County, MN 6%
- Sac County, IA 6%
- Carroll County, IA 5%
- Blue Earth County, MN 4%
- Lac qui Parle County, MN 3%
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.