What Stafford County, VA's soil rates for a septic system

Very limited

74.9% of Stafford County, VA'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 - 74.9% of it sits in USDA's most-constrained bucket. Stafford County covers 268.489 square miles and counts 168,919 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

Nothing about Stafford County, VA'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 Stafford County.

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Stafford 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 Stafford County, VA compares

Nationally, Stafford County, VA is the 2,285-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within Virginia alone it ranks 59 of 110.

Further reading

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