Septic soil in Dauphin County, PA, by the numbers

Very limited

In Dauphin County, PA, 81.8% of the surveyed land carries a "Very limited" rating for a standard septic drain field. This is the reading that pushes a project toward an engineered system rather than a conventional one, and it covers 81.8% of Dauphin County's land. Dauphin County covers 524.87 square miles and counts 293,029 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

Two lots a mile apart in Dauphin County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide rating. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in Dauphin County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Dauphin 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.

How Dauphin County, PA compares

Nationally, Dauphin County, PA is the 1,938-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Pennsylvania alone it ranks 52 of 66.

Further reading

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