Septic soil in Taylor County, WV, by the numbers

Very limited

93.2% of Taylor County, WV'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 93.2% of the county. Taylor County, WV is 172.771 square miles with a population of 16,438.

What Taylor County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Taylor County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide rating. A local percolation test, typically $750-$1,850 (around $1,300 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Taylor County will actually do.

What a system would cost here

With 93.2% of Taylor County rating "Very limited", a standard gravity system is not a safe assumption here. 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 Taylor County, WV compares

Nationally, Taylor County, WV is the 904-most-constrained of 3,058 rated counties for septic soil. Within West Virginia alone it ranks 42 of 55.

Before you act on this

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