Meade County's SSURGO septic rating

Very limited

Meade County, SD: USDA's soil survey calls 82.2% of the county "Very limited" for a septic leach field. Practically, that rules out a simple gravity system for most of the county - 82.2% of it sits in USDA's most-constrained bucket. For scale: 3,470.934 square miles and 30,918 people call Meade County home.

Before you rely on this for one lot

Meade County's rating is an average across the whole county, not a promise about any one lot inside it. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific perc test, running about $750-$1,850 (typically near $1,300).

Budgeting for a system in Meade County, SD

Meade County's soil reading pushes the likely outcome toward an engineered system rather than a conventional one. Conventional systems run $3,000-$8,000 where they pass; where they don't, engineered alternatives (mound or aerobic treatment, whichever the health department requires) run $10,000-$40,000 - budget toward the higher figure until a perc test says otherwise.

Where this sits nationally

Among the 3,058 rated counties on this site, Meade County, SD ranks 1,917 most-constrained nationally, and 47 of 66 within South Dakota.

Related guides

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