Septic soil in Keith County, NE, by the numbers

Very limited

Soil across 68.1% of Keith County, NE rates "Very limited" in USDA's septic-absorption-field interpretation. This is the reading that pushes a project toward an engineered system rather than a conventional one, and it covers 68.1% of Keith County's land. Keith County covers 1,062.063 square miles and counts 8,148 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Keith County, NE at once, not any single address. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in Keith County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Keith 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 Keith County, NE compares

Nationally, Keith County, NE is the 2,528-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Nebraska alone it ranks 66 of 93.

Further reading

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