What Gilmer County, GA's soil rates for a septic system

Very limited

Soil across 84.7% of Gilmer County, GA rates "Very limited" in USDA's septic-absorption-field interpretation. That reading means a conventional system is a poor bet here - 84.7% of Gilmer County lands in the strictest "very limited" bucket USDA uses. Gilmer County covers 426.181 square miles and counts 33,327 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

Nothing about Gilmer County, GA's SSURGO figure applies to a specific address - it's a county-wide average. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in Gilmer County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Gilmer 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, Gilmer County, GA is the 1,722-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Georgia alone it ranks 48 of 159.

Further reading

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