Sweetwater, Texas

Inside Sweetwater's city limits, shrink-swell clay limits houses without basements on under 1% of mapped land. A shallow water table limits basements on under 1%.

That clay share is below Nolan County's 13%. FEMA's flood data list 2 flood losses since 2016 in ZIP code 79556 overlapping the city. Of its 5,170 homes, 80% were built before 1980; the median dates from 1963.

Data as of October 13, 2026 · sources · in Nolan County

<1%

expansive clay: shrink-swell limits slab homes

<1%

high water table: limits basements

flood losses since 2016 in 1 overlapping ZIP

80%

of homes built before 1980

Foundation repair in Sweetwater

Foundation repair in Sweetwater: shrink-swell clay limits slab homes on under 1% of Sweetwater's mapped land.

About 3,800 of Sweetwater's 5,170 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 Sweetwater city limits

Expansive clay (limits slab homes)	under 0.1%
High water table (limits basements)	under 0.1%
Septic fields very limited	63.2%
Clay swell (LEP, by area)	2.0%
High-swell land (LEP 6%+)	0.3%
Mapped soil	6,974 acres

Soil series	Share here	Series nationally: expansive clay
Woodward	44%	n/a
Paducah	20%	n/a
Quinlan	13%	n/a
Colorado	6%	n/a
Veal	3%	n/a
Carey	3%	n/a

Sweetwater city limits inside Nolan County, shaded by the city's expansive clay share.under 10%10-25%25-40%40-60%60%+

How we count

What the numbers mean here

USDA rates 63% of the land very limited for septic absorption fields.

With shrink-swell clay on under 1% and a shallow water table on under 1% of the land, the soil survey points to neither problem across most of Sweetwater; conditions still vary lot by lot.

Drought in Nolan County

100% of Nolan County is in drought (D1 or worse) on the October 13, 2026 map. County detail.

October 21, 2025Share of area in drought, weeklyOctober 13, 2026

Flood losses by ZIP code

FEMA flood records since 2016 in the ZIP codes that overlap Sweetwater. ZIP areas reach past city limits.

ZIP	Share of city land	Flood losses	Paid
79556	100%	2	$11,493

Homes in Sweetwater

Housing units	5,170
Median year built	1963
Built before 1980	80%
Built 2000 or later	4%
Owner-occupied	60%
Median value, owner-occupied	$80,800
Single-family detached	74%

Nearby cities

Place	Distance	Expansive clay	High water table
Roscoe	7 mi	30%	6%
Trent	17 mi	70%	0%
Loraine	18 mi	6%	0%
Roby	19 mi	0%	under 1%
Merkel	23 mi	77%	under 1%
Colorado City	27 mi	5%	under 1%
Rotan	27 mi	0%	1%
Blackwell	27 mi	3%	under 1%

Sources: USDA SSURGO (August 5, 2026) · US Drought Monitor (October 13, 2026) · FEMA NFIP v3 (September 9, 2026) · Census ACS 2020-2024. Methods · Data status