What Pickett County, TN's soil rates for a septic system

Very limited

76.1% of Pickett County, TN'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 - 76.1% of it sits in USDA's most-constrained bucket. Pickett County covers 162.97 square miles and counts 5,108 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

This is a countywide, area-weighted figure across every soil survey map unit in Pickett County, TN - never a reading for one specific parcel. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in Pickett County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Pickett 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Pickett County, TN is the 2,230-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Tennessee alone it ranks 67 of 95.

Related guides

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