What San Benito County, CA's soil rates for a septic system

Very limited

Soil across 92.3% of San Benito County, CA rates "Very limited" in USDA's septic-absorption-field interpretation. This is the reading that pushes a project toward an engineered system rather than a conventional one, and it covers 92.3% of San Benito County's land. San Benito County covers 1,388.652 square miles and counts 69,159 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of San Benito County, CA at once, not any single address. A site-specific perc test, usually $750-$1,850, is what a health department will actually require before permitting a lot in San Benito County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given San Benito 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 San Benito County, CA compares

Nationally, San Benito County, CA is the 1,000-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within California alone it ranks 24 of 57.

Before you act on this

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