Wise County, Texas

Shrink-swell clay limits houses without basements on 21% of Wise County's mapped land, a higher share than 70% of US counties. A shallow water table limits basements on 5%.

100% of the county is in drought on the October 13, 2026 Drought Monitor map. FEMA's flood data list 18 flood losses here since 2016. 25% of homes were built before 1980, against 50% nationally; the median home dates from 1996.

Data as of October 13, 2026 · sources

21%

expansive clay: shrink-swell limits slab homes

high water table: limits basements

100%

in drought, October 13, 2026

25%

of homes built before 1980

Soil under Wise County

Expansive clay (limits slab homes)	20.5%
High water table (limits basements)	5.2%
Septic fields very limited	66.8%
Clay swell (LEP, by area)	4.5%
High-swell land (LEP 6%+)	19.3%
Mapped soil	590,963 acres

Soil series	Share here	Series nationally: expansive clay
Duffau	11%	n/a
Keeter	7%	n/a
Windthorst	7%	37%
Pulexas	6%	n/a
Sanger	5%	99%
Chaney	4%	n/a

Wise County (heavy outline) and nearby counties, shaded by expansive clay share.under 10%10-25%25-40%40-60%60%+

How we count · survey areas TX497 (2025-09-05)

What the numbers mean here

Clay swell averages a linear extensibility of 4.5% by land area here, and 19% of the land reaches USDA's high class (6% or more). Clay like that swells when wet and shrinks when dry, under 21% of the mapped land.

Clay shrinks as it dries: 100% of the county is in drought on the latest map, and 21% of Wise County's mapped land has shrink-swell clay.

Rain over the 12 months to August 2026: 27.04 in, 8.28 in below the 1991-2020 average year of 35.32 in.

USDA rates 67% of the land very limited for septic absorption fields.

Drought

100% of the county is in drought (D1 or worse) on the October 13, 2026 map. Part of the county was in drought in 11 of the last 52 weeks; the most was 100% of its area, in 9 weeks, most recently on the October 13, 2026 map.

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

Category, October 13, 2026	Share of county
D0 abnormally dry or worse	100%
D1 moderate drought or worse	100%
D2 severe or worse	0%
D3 extreme or worse	0%
D4 exceptional	0%

Flood losses since 2016

18 flood losses since 2016, $1.2 million paid. The worst year was 2016, with 8.

Year	Flood losses
2016	8
2017	1
2018	0
2019	1
2020	5
2021	0
2022	1
2023	0
2024	1
2025	1
2026 to date	0

Rain

Average year, 1991-2020	35.32 in
12 months to August 2026	27.04 in (-8.28)
2025	34.68 in (-0.64)
Wettest year since 1895	2015: 59.87 in
Driest year since 1895	2005: 16.71 in
Days with 1 inch or more, normal at DECATUR (3 mi away)	11.6

Homes

Housing units	27,530
Median year built	1996
Built before 1980	25%
Built 2000 or later	42%
Owner-occupied	81%
Median value, owner-occupied	$304,900
Single-family detached	71%

What repairs cost

Published ranges from cost guides, not quotes. More sources, and where they disagree.

Work	Range	Source
Foundation repair, US	$2,200 to $8,200	Fixr, January 27, 2026
Pier-and-beam repair, US	$2,000 to $15,000	Fixr, January 27, 2026
Foundation inspection, US	$300 to $600	Fixr, January 31, 2025

Cities in Wise County

City	Expansive clay	High water table	Homes
Alvord	13%	10%	495
Aurora	14%	8%	592
Boyd	12%	2%	576
Bridgeport	38%	12%	2,009
Chico	7%	26%	554
Decatur	18%	under 1%	3,424
Lake Bridgeport	1%	0%	199
New Fairview	50%	0%	497
Newark	48%	under 1%	440
Paradise	22%	22%	236
Rhome	30%	1%	586
Runaway Bay	14%	under 1%	857

Nearby counties

Place	Distance	Expansive clay	High water table
Jack County, TX	29 mi	17%	1%
Denton County, TX	31 mi	50%	1%
Parker County, TX	32 mi	21%	5%
Montague County, TX	32 mi	23%	3%
Tarrant County, TX	38 mi	41%	4%
Cooke County, TX	39 mi	38%	under 1%
Palo Pinto County, TX	50 mi	19%	1%
Clay County, TX	50 mi	23%	2%

Sources: USDA SSURGO (September 5, 2025) · US Drought Monitor (October 13, 2026) · FEMA NFIP v3 (September 9, 2026) · NOAA (August 2026) · Census ACS 2020-2024. Methods · Data status