Septic soil in Atlantic County, NJ, by the numbers

Very limited

Soil across 88.1% of Atlantic County, NJ rates "Very limited" in USDA's septic-absorption-field interpretation. Practically, that rules out a simple gravity system for most of the county - 88.1% of it sits in USDA's most-constrained bucket. Atlantic County covers 555.583 square miles and counts 279,114 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

Atlantic County's rating is an average across the whole county, not a promise about any one lot inside it. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in Atlantic County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Atlantic County's rating, plan for the engineered-system range rather than the conventional one. The engineered-system range, $10,000-$40,000 (mound or aerobic treatment), is the more realistic number to plan around, against $3,000-$8,000 for a conventional system on the rare lot that passes.

How Atlantic County, NJ compares

Nationally, Atlantic County, NJ is the 1,455-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within New Jersey alone it ranks 3 of 21.

Before you act on this

How this rating is built, and its real limits · Conventional vs. engineered septic systems