What Clayton County, IA's soil rates for a septic system
Very limited
94.4% of Clayton County, IA's surveyed soil comes back "Very limited" in USDA's own SSURGO data, the county's dominant condition for a septic absorption field. This is the reading that pushes a project toward an engineered system rather than a conventional one, and it covers 94.4% of Clayton County's land. Clayton County, IA is 778.464 square miles with a population of 16,931.
What Clayton County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in Clayton County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide rating. A local percolation test, typically $750-$1,850 (around $1,300 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Clayton County will actually do.
What a system would cost here
With 94.4% of Clayton 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.
Clayton County's rank among Iowa counties
Nationally, Clayton County, IA is the 730-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Iowa alone it ranks 51 of 99.
Related guides
How this rating is built, and its real limits · Conventional vs. engineered septic systems