Septic soil in Taos County, NM, by the numbers

Very limited

79.6% of Taos County, NM's surveyed soil comes back "Very limited" in USDA's own SSURGO data, the county's dominant condition for a septic absorption field. Expect the ground itself to work against a plain gravity system; USDA's strictest bucket alone covers 79.6% of the county. Taos County covers 2,202.373 square miles and counts 34,482 residents.

This is a county figure, not a parcel figure

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

System cost, conventional vs. engineered

Given Taos 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 Taos County, NM compares

Nationally, Taos County, NM is the 2,057-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within New Mexico alone it ranks 8 of 29.

Further reading

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