Lee County, MS's soil, for a septic absorption field

Very limited

97.3% of Lee County, MS's surveyed soil comes back "Very limited" in USDA's own SSURGO data, the county's dominant condition for a septic absorption field. This is the reading that pushes a project toward an engineered system rather than a conventional one, and it covers 97.3% of Lee County's land. Lee County covers 449.965 square miles and counts 83,012 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

Two lots a mile apart in Lee 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 Lee County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Lee 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.

Lee County's rank among Mississippi counties

Nationally, Lee County, MS is the 339-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Mississippi alone it ranks 19 of 82.

Before you act on this

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