Caroline County, MD's soil, for a septic absorption field

Very limited

97.4% of Caroline County, MD's surveyed soil comes back "Very limited" in USDA's own SSURGO data, the county's dominant condition for a septic absorption field. That reading means a conventional system is a poor bet here - 97.4% of Caroline County lands in the strictest "very limited" bucket USDA uses. Caroline County covers 319.442 square miles and counts 34,248 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Caroline County, MD at once, not any single address. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in Caroline County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Caroline 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Caroline County, MD is the 330-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Maryland alone it ranks 1 of 23.

Related guides

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