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Odessa, Texas
Inside Odessa's city limits, shrink-swell clay limits houses without basements on 1% of mapped land. A shallow water table limits basements on 1%.
That clay share is close to Ector County's under 1%. FEMA's flood data list 39 flood losses since 2016 in the 4 ZIP codes overlapping the city. Of its 49,871 homes, 51% were built before 1980; the median dates from 1980.
Data as of November 3, 2026 · sources · in Ector County
expansive clay: shrink-swell limits slab homes
high water table: limits basements
flood losses since 2016 in 4 overlapping ZIPs
of homes built before 1980
Foundation repair in Odessa
Foundation repair in Odessa: shrink-swell clay limits slab homes on 1% of Odessa's mapped land.
About 31,600 of Odessa's 49,871 homes are detached houses.
| Who designs the repair | The ASCE Texas Section's repair guidelines say a Texas-licensed engineer should evaluate the foundation and design the repair (2022 guidelines) |
| Prices | Cost guide ranges compared |
Soil under Odessa city limits
| Expansive clay (limits slab homes) | 1.1% |
| High water table (limits basements) | 0.9% |
| Septic fields very limited | 64.6% |
| Clay swell (LEP, by area) | 2.1% |
| High-swell land (LEP 6%+) | 1.1% |
| Urban land, not rated | 15.0% |
| Mapped soil | 33,817 acres |
| Soil series | Share here | Series nationally: expansive clay |
|---|---|---|
| Kimbrough | 23% | n/a |
| Faskin | 21% | n/a |
| Douro | 12% | n/a |
| Stegall | 7% | n/a |
| Ratliff | 4% | n/a |
| Slaughter | 2% | n/a |
What the numbers mean here
USDA rates 65% of the land very limited for septic absorption fields.
With shrink-swell clay on 1% and a shallow water table on 1% of the land, the soil survey points to neither problem across most of Odessa; conditions still vary lot by lot.
Odessa covers 52.5 square miles of land and counts 49,871 housing units, about 950 per square mile.
60% of Odessa's occupied homes are owner-occupied, and the median owner-occupied home is valued at $223,100; 31% of all homes in the city date from 2000 or later.
The largest soil series under Odessa is Kimbrough, on 23% of the mapped land, followed by Faskin at 21%.
Clay swell, measured as linear extensibility, averages 2.1% across Odessa's 33,817 mapped acres.
Drought in Ector County
68.6% of Ector County is in drought (D1 or worse) on the November 3, 2026 map. County detail.
Flood losses by ZIP code
FEMA flood records since 2016 in the ZIP codes that overlap Odessa. ZIP areas reach past city limits.
| ZIP | Share of city land | Flood losses | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 79762 | 27% | 21 | $364,112 |
| 79765 | 25% | 5 | $355,687 |
| 79761 | 19% | 10 | $215,429 |
| 79763 | 16% | 3 | $10,004 |
Homes in Odessa
| Housing units | 49,871 |
| Median year built | 1980 |
| Built before 1980 | 51% |
| Built 2000 or later | 31% |
| Owner-occupied | 60% |
| Median value, owner-occupied | $223,100 |
| Single-family detached | 63% |
Nearby cities
Sources: USDA SSURGO (August 5, 2026) · US Drought Monitor (November 3, 2026) · FEMA NFIP v3 (September 9, 2026) · Census ACS 2020-2024. Methods · Data status