Kentucky Soil Drainage Rankings

Kentucky

How well does the soil drain across Kentucky? We ranked every USDA survey area by the percentage of land classified as "well drained." Areas at the top of the list have soils where water moves through at a healthy rate — favorable for building, septic, and gardening. Areas at the bottom have more waterlogged or slowly-draining soils that may require engineered solutions.

The best-drained survey area is Breathitt County, Kentucky at 100% well-drained soils. The most drainage-challenged is Carlisle and Hickman Counties, Kentucky at 6%. 31% of the land in Carlisle and Hickman Counties, Kentucky is poorly drained, so building, septic and gardening there often call for drainage work, engineered septic designs or raised beds.

stays wet (poorly drained)in between, or not ratedwell drained

#	Survey Area	Well Drained	Poorly Drained	Most common class
1	Breathitt County, Kentucky	100%	0%	Well drained
2	Jackson and Owsley Counties, Kentucky	100%	0%	Well drained
3	Leslie and Perry Counties, Kentucky	100%	0%	Well drained
4	Pike County, Kentucky	99%	0%	Well drained
5	Floyd and Johnson Counties, Kentucky	99%	0%	Well drained
6	Bell and Harlan Counties, Kentucky	99%	0%	Well drained
7	Knott and Letcher Counties, Kentucky	99%	0%	Well drained
8	Clay County, Kentucky	98%	0%	Well drained
9	Wayne County, Kentucky	97%	1%	Well drained
10	Clinton County, Kentucky	97%	2%	Well drained
11	McCreary-Whitley Area, Kentucky	97%	1%	Well drained
12	Magoffin and Morgan Counties, Kentucky	97%	0%	Well drained
13	Scott County, Kentucky	97%	0%	Well drained
14	Boyle and Mercer Counties, Kentucky	96%	1%	Well drained
15	Harrison County, Kentucky	96%	0%	Well drained
16	Bourbon and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky	96%	0%	Well drained
17	Jessamine and Woodford Counties, Kentucky	96%	1%	Well drained
18	Bracken and Robertson Counties, Kentucky	96%	0%	Well drained
19	Washington County, Kentucky	96%	1%	Well drained
20	Mason County, Kentucky	95%	0%	Well drained
21	Anderson and Franklin Counties, Kentucky	95%	1%	Well drained
22	Hart County Area, Kentucky	95%	1%	Well drained
23	Lawrence and Martin Counties, Kentucky	95%	4%	Well drained
24	Russell County, Kentucky	92%	2%	Well drained
25	Monroe County, Kentucky	92%	2%	Well drained
26	Grant and Pendleton Counties, Kentucky	92%	0%	Well drained
27	Henry and Trimble Counties, Kentucky	91%	0%	Well drained
28	Clark County, Kentucky	90%	3%	Well drained
29	Carroll, Gallatin, and Owen Counties, Kentucky	90%	2%	Well drained
30	Green and Taylor Counties, Kentucky	90%	5%	Well drained
31	Cumberland County, Kentucky	90%	1%	Well drained
32	Garrard and Lincoln Counties, Kentucky	89%	4%	Well drained
33	Casey County, Kentucky	89%	6%	Well drained
34	Fleming County, Kentucky	89%	2%	Well drained
35	Estill and Lee Counties, Kentucky	88%	2%	Well drained
36	Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky	88%	0%	Well drained
37	Pulaski County, Kentucky	88%	4%	Well drained
38	Shelby County, Kentucky	88%	0%	Well drained
39	Allen County, Kentucky	88%	1%	Well drained
40	Simpson County, Kentucky	88%	5%	Well drained
41	Lewis County, Kentucky	88%	2%	Well drained
42	Fayette County, Kentucky	87%	3%	Well drained
43	Carter County, Kentucky	87%	2%	Well drained
44	Marion County, Kentucky	86%	6%	Well drained
45	Elliott County, Kentucky	85%	0%	Well drained
46	Powell and Wolfe Counties, Kentucky	85%	2%	Well drained
47	Nelson County, Kentucky	84%	6%	Well drained
48	Metcalfe County, Kentucky	84%	5%	Well drained
49	Hardin and Larue Counties, Kentucky	83%	5%	Well drained
50	Montgomery County, Kentucky	82%	3%	Well drained
51	Adair County, Kentucky	82%	5%	Well drained
52	Oldham County, Kentucky	82%	1%	Well drained
53	Bullitt and Spencer Counties, Kentucky	81%	9%	Well drained
54	Bath County, Kentucky	81%	9%	Well drained
55	Boyd and Greenup Counties, Kentucky	81%	4%	Well drained
56	Lyon and Trigg Counties, Kentucky	80%	1%	Well drained
57	Laurel and Rockcastle Counties, Kentucky	80%	5%	Well drained
58	Warren County, Kentucky	79%	3%	Well drained
59	Barren County Area, Kentucky	77%	4%	Well drained
60	Madison County, Kentucky	77%	7%	Well drained
61	Logan County, Kentucky	76%	5%	Well drained
62	Breckinridge and Meade Counties, Kentucky	75%	1%	Well drained
63	Butler and Edmonson Counties Area, Kentucky	74%	13%	Well drained
64	Jefferson County, Kentucky	72%	7%	Well drained
65	Todd County, Kentucky	70%	6%	Well drained
66	Boone, Campbell, and Kenton Counties, Kentucky	70%	1%	Well drained
67	Knox and Eastern Part of Whitley Counties, Kentucky	70%	7%	Well drained
68	Christian County, Kentucky	68%	7%	Well drained
69	Menifee and Rowan Counties, Kentucky	64%	2%	Well drained
70	Ohio County, Kentucky	55%	20%	Well drained
71	Caldwell County, Kentucky	53%	7%	Well drained
72	Crittenden County, Kentucky	42%	7%	Moderately well drained
73	Livingston County, Kentucky	42%	7%	Moderately well drained
74	Union and Webster Counties, Kentucky	41%	25%	Well drained
75	Grayson County, Kentucky	41%	4%	Well drained
76	Daviess and Hancock Counties, Kentucky	40%	33%	Well drained
77	McLean and Muhlenberg Counties, Kentucky	39%	31%	Well drained
78	Hopkins County, Kentucky	32%	32%	Moderately well drained
79	Henderson County, Kentucky	31%	37%	Well drained
80	Calloway and Marshall Counties, Kentucky	25%	20%	Moderately well drained
81	Ballard and McCracken Counties, Kentucky	20%	38%	Moderately well drained
82	Graves County, Kentucky	18%	7%	Moderately well drained
83	Fulton County, Kentucky	16%	45%	Somewhat poorly drained
84	Carlisle and Hickman Counties, Kentucky	6%	31%	Moderately well drained