Cecil County's SSURGO septic rating

Very limited

USDA puts Cecil County, MD at "Very limited" for septic absorption fields, the dominant reading across 70.3% of the county's soil. This is the reading that pushes a project toward an engineered system rather than a conventional one, and it covers 70.3% of Cecil County's land. For scale: 346.3 square miles and 106,305 people call Cecil County home.

Before you rely on this for one lot

Cecil 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 Cecil County, MD

Cecil 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, Cecil County, MD ranks 2,452 most-constrained nationally, and 18 of 23 within Maryland.

Related guides

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