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

Very limited

In Shasta County, CA, 96.3% of the surveyed land carries a "Very limited" rating for a standard septic drain field. Practically, that rules out a simple gravity system for most of the county - 96.3% of it sits in USDA's most-constrained bucket. Shasta County covers 3,775.651 square miles and counts 181,121 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

This is a countywide, area-weighted figure across every soil survey map unit in Shasta County, CA - 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 Shasta County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Shasta 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 Shasta County, CA compares

Nationally, Shasta County, CA is the 478-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within California alone it ranks 8 of 57.

Further reading

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