Jackson County, MN's soil, for a septic absorption field

Very limited

Soil across 92.1% of Jackson County, MN rates "Very limited" in USDA's septic-absorption-field interpretation. Practically, that rules out a simple gravity system for most of the county - 92.1% of it sits in USDA's most-constrained bucket. Jackson County covers 702.972 square miles and counts 9,861 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

This is a countywide, area-weighted figure across every soil survey map unit in Jackson County, MN - never a reading for one specific parcel. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in Jackson County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Jackson 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 Jackson County, MN compares

Nationally, Jackson County, MN is the 1,031-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Minnesota alone it ranks 34 of 86.

Related guides

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