Maine Soil Drainage Rankings

Maine

How well does the soil drain across Maine? 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 Somerset County Area and Parts of Franklin and Oxford Counties, Maine at 35% well-drained soils. The most drainage-challenged is York County, Maine at 5%. 33% of the land in York County, Maine 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	Somerset County Area and Parts of Franklin and Oxford Counties, Maine	35%	44%	Well drained
2	Franklin County Area and Part of Somerset County, Maine	30%	42%	Well drained
3	Aroostook County, Maine, Northeastern Part	29%	31%	Well drained
4	Oxford County Area, Maine	29%	15%	Moderately well drained
5	Piscataquis County, Maine, Southern Part	24%	46%	Somewhat poorly drained
6	Hancock County Area, Maine	23%	37%	Well drained
7	Somerset County, Maine, Southern Part	22%	46%	Poorly drained
8	Kennebec County, Maine	22%	26%	Moderately well drained
9	Aroostook County, Maine, Southern Part	22%	28%	Moderately well drained
10	Waldo County, Maine	22%	30%	Moderately well drained
11	Penobscot County, Maine	21%	39%	Poorly drained
12	Androscoggin and Sagadahoc Counties, Maine	21%	22%	Somewhat excessively drained
13	Washington County Area, Maine	20%	48%	Well drained
14	Northern Hancock and Western Washington County Area, Maine	15%	61%	Somewhat poorly drained
15	Knox and Lincoln Counties, Maine	13%	32%	Somewhat excessively drained
16	Penobscot County, Maine, Southern Part	13%	56%	Poorly drained
17	Cumberland County and Part of Oxford County, Maine	11%	25%	Moderately well drained
18	Western Aroostook County Area, Maine	9%	49%	Moderately well drained
19	Northern Piscataquis and Northern Somerset County Area, Maine	9%	58%	Poorly drained
20	York County, Maine	5%	33%	Somewhat excessively drained