Septic soil in Beaufort County, SC, by the numbers

Very limited

Soil across 83.4% of Beaufort County, SC rates "Very limited" in USDA's septic-absorption-field interpretation. This is the reading that pushes a project toward an engineered system rather than a conventional one, and it covers 83.4% of Beaufort County's land. Beaufort County covers 576.022 square miles and counts 201,775 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

Two lots a mile apart in Beaufort County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide rating. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in Beaufort County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Beaufort 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 Beaufort County, SC compares

Nationally, Beaufort County, SC is the 1,826-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within South Carolina alone it ranks 15 of 46.

Before you act on this

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