Houston County's SSURGO septic rating

Very limited

Houston County, MN: USDA's soil survey calls 89.8% of the county "Very limited" for a septic leach field. That reading means a conventional system is a poor bet here - 89.8% of Houston County lands in the strictest "very limited" bucket USDA uses. For scale: 552.115 square miles and 18,352 people call Houston County home.

Before you rely on this for one lot

Nothing about Houston County, MN's SSURGO figure applies to a specific address - it's a county-wide average. 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 Houston County, MN

Houston 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, Houston County, MN ranks 1,293 most-constrained nationally, and 46 of 86 within Minnesota.

Further reading

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