Septic soil in Bertie County, NC, by the numbers

Very limited

Soil across 91.1% of Bertie County, NC 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 91.1% of Bertie County's land. Bertie County, NC is 699.176 square miles with a population of 16,939.

What Bertie County's reading doesn't cover

This is a countywide, area-weighted figure across every soil survey map unit in Bertie County, NC - never a reading for one specific parcel. A local percolation test, typically $750-$1,850 (around $1,300 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Bertie County will actually do.

What a system would cost here

With 91.1% of Bertie County rating "Very limited", a standard gravity system is not a safe assumption here. 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.

Bertie County's rank among North Carolina counties

Nationally, Bertie County, NC is the 1,154-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within North Carolina alone it ranks 19 of 97.

Before you act on this

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