What Madison County, NY's soil rates for a septic system

Very limited

86.5% of Madison County, NY's surveyed soil comes back "Very limited" in USDA's own SSURGO data, the county's dominant condition for a septic absorption field. Practically, that rules out a simple gravity system for most of the county - 86.5% of it sits in USDA's most-constrained bucket. Madison County covers 654.854 square miles and counts 67,072 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

Nothing about Madison County, NY's SSURGO figure applies to a specific address - it's a county-wide average. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in Madison County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Madison 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 Madison County, NY compares

Nationally, Madison County, NY is the 1,577-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within New York alone it ranks 43 of 61.

Before you act on this

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