Lincoln County, NC's soil, for a septic absorption field
Somewhat limited
70.9% of Lincoln County, NC's surveyed soil comes back "Somewhat limited" in USDA's own SSURGO data, the county's dominant condition for a septic absorption field. It's a soil condition contractors work around routinely, with a bigger field or added fill, rather than one that forces an engineered system outright. Lincoln County, NC is 295.851 square miles with a population of 97,611.
What Lincoln County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in Lincoln County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide rating. A local percolation test, typically $750-$1,850 (around $1,300 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Lincoln County will actually do.
What a system would cost here
With 70.9% of Lincoln County rating "Somewhat limited", a standard gravity system is not a safe assumption here. 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, Lincoln County, NC is the 3,031-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within North Carolina alone it ranks 96 of 97.
Related guides
How this rating is built, and its real limits · How a percolation test actually works