Pike County, IN's soil, for a septic absorption field

Very limited

91% of Pike County, IN'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 - 91% of it sits in USDA's most-constrained bucket. Pike County covers 334.351 square miles and counts 12,116 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

Two lots a mile apart in Pike County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide rating. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in Pike County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Pike 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 Pike County, IN compares

Nationally, Pike County, IN is the 1,169-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Indiana alone it ranks 58 of 90.

Further reading

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