Breathitt County's SSURGO septic rating

Very limited

USDA puts Breathitt County, KY at "Very limited" for septic absorption fields, the dominant reading across 98.6% of the county's soil. Practically, that rules out a simple gravity system for most of the county - 98.6% of it sits in USDA's most-constrained bucket. For scale: 492.422 square miles and 12,804 people call Breathitt County home.

Before you rely on this for one lot

Breathitt County's rating is an average across the whole county, not a promise about any one lot inside it. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific perc test, running about $750-$1,850 (typically near $1,300).

Budgeting for a system in Breathitt County, KY

Breathitt County's soil reading pushes the likely outcome toward an engineered system rather than a conventional one. Conventional systems run $3,000-$8,000 where they pass; where they don't, engineered alternatives (mound or aerobic treatment, whichever the health department requires) run $10,000-$40,000 - budget toward the higher figure until a perc test says otherwise.

Where this sits nationally

Among the 3,058 rated counties on this site, Breathitt County, KY ranks 159 most-constrained nationally, and 1 of 119 within Kentucky.

Before you act on this

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