Septic soil in Merced County, CA, by the numbers

Very limited

In Merced County, CA, 93% of the surveyed land carries a "Very limited" rating for a standard septic drain field. That reading means a conventional system is a poor bet here - 93% of Merced County lands in the strictest "very limited" bucket USDA uses. Merced County covers 1,938.02 square miles and counts 296,774 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

Nothing about Merced County, CA'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 Merced County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Merced 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 Merced County, CA compares

Nationally, Merced County, CA is the 921-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within California alone it ranks 18 of 57.

Related guides

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