North Carolina Soil Drainage Rankings

North Carolina

How well does the soil drain across North Carolina? 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 Surry County, North Carolina at 97% well-drained soils. The most drainage-challenged is Hyde County, North Carolina at 0%. With 89% poorly-drained soils, properties in Hyde County, North Carolina should budget for drainage engineering, alternative septic designs, or raised-bed gardening.

#Survey AreaWell DrainedPoorly DrainedDominant Class
1 Surry County, North Carolina 97% 1% Well drained
2 Stokes County, North Carolina 97% 1% Well drained
3 Haywood County Area, North Carolina 95% 1% Well drained
4 Wilkes County, North Carolina 95% 2% Well drained
5 Clay County, North Carolina 95% 1% Well drained
6 Alexander County, North Carolina 93% 3% Well drained
7 Yadkin County, North Carolina 93% 5% Well drained
8 Burke County, North Carolina 93% 1% Well drained
9 Avery County, North Carolina 93% 1% Well drained
10 McDowell County, North Carolina 92% 2% Well drained
11 Catawba County, North Carolina 92% 5% Well drained
12 Rockingham County, North Carolina 92% 6% Well drained
13 Lincoln County, North Carolina 92% 6% Well drained
14 Cleveland County, North Carolina 92% 4% Well drained
15 Iredell County, North Carolina 92% 6% Well drained
16 Guilford County, North Carolina 91% 5% Well drained
17 Polk County, North Carolina 91% 2% Well drained
18 Macon County, North Carolina 91% 1% Well drained
19 Mitchell County, North Carolina 90% 1% Well drained
20 Rutherford County, North Carolina 90% 5% Well drained
21 Vance County, North Carolina 90% 4% Well drained
22 Ashe County, North Carolina 90% 3% Well drained
23 Gaston County, North Carolina 89% 7% Well drained
24 Madison County, North Carolina 89% 1% Well drained
25 Forsyth County, North Carolina 89% 8% Well drained
26 Warren County, North Carolina 89% 5% Well drained
27 Randolph County, North Carolina 88% 2% Well drained
28 Buncombe County, North Carolina 88% 2% Well drained
29 Graham County, North Carolina 87% 1% Well drained
30 Davie County, North Carolina 87% 10% Well drained
31 Swain County Area, North Carolina 86% 0% Well drained
32 Cherokee County, North Carolina 86% 2% Well drained
33 Jackson County, North Carolina 86% 1% Well drained
34 Caldwell County, North Carolina 85% 3% Well drained
35 Davidson County, North Carolina 85% 6% Well drained
36 Rowan County, North Carolina 85% 8% Well drained
37 Montgomery County, North Carolina 84% 6% Well drained
38 Mecklenburg County, North Carolina 82% 7% Well drained
39 Yancey County, North Carolina 81% 0% Well drained
40 Stanly County, North Carolina 80% 1% Well drained
41 Caswell County, North Carolina 80% 9% Well drained
42 Orange County, North Carolina 80% 4% Well drained
43 Franklin County, North Carolina 80% 9% Well drained
44 Watauga County, North Carolina 79% 1% Well drained
45 Cabarrus County, North Carolina 77% 9% Well drained
46 Alleghany County, North Carolina 77% 5% Well drained
47 Lee County, North Carolina 75% 8% Well drained
48 Alamance County, North Carolina 75% 6% Well drained
49 Henderson County, North Carolina 73% 6% Well drained
50 Union County, North Carolina 71% 5% Well drained
51 Person County, North Carolina 70% 6% Well drained
52 Anson County, North Carolina 69% 10% Well drained
53 Wake County, North Carolina 67% 12% Well drained
54 Transylvania County, North Carolina 66% 2% Well drained
55 Nash County, North Carolina 65% 27% Well drained
56 Granville County, North Carolina 64% 7% Well drained
57 Moore County, North Carolina 61% 6% Well drained
58 Harnett County, North Carolina 57% 20% Well drained
59 Halifax County, North Carolina 54% 27% Well drained
60 Chatham County, North Carolina 54% 6% Well drained
61 Hoke County, North Carolina 53% 18% Well drained
62 Richmond County, North Carolina 50% 8% Well drained
63 Johnston County, North Carolina 48% 31% Well drained
64 Greene County, North Carolina 47% 36% Well drained
65 Sampson County, North Carolina 40% 39% Well drained
66 Wilson County, North Carolina 40% 40% Well drained
67 Wayne County, North Carolina 40% 43% Well drained
68 Scotland County, North Carolina 38% 29% Well drained
69 Cumberland County, North Carolina 37% 34% Well drained
70 Durham County, North Carolina 37% 11% Moderately well drained
71 Duplin County, North Carolina 36% 40% Well drained
72 Edgecombe County, North Carolina 35% 39% Well drained
73 Northampton County, North Carolina 33% 34% Well drained
74 Robeson County, North Carolina 27% 54% Poorly drained
75 Lenoir County, North Carolina 26% 48% Well drained
76 Onslow County, North Carolina 24% 54% Poorly drained
77 Hertford County, North Carolina 19% 49% Poorly drained
78 Bladen County, North Carolina 18% 59% Very poorly drained
79 Brunswick County, North Carolina 15% 61% Very poorly drained
80 Martin County, North Carolina 14% 66% Poorly drained
81 Chowan County, North Carolina 14% 65% Poorly drained
82 Columbus County, North Carolina 13% 69% Poorly drained
83 Pitt County, North Carolina 13% 63% Poorly drained
84 New Hanover County, North Carolina 11% 55% Very poorly drained
85 Pender County, North Carolina 11% 67% Poorly drained
86 Bertie County, North Carolina 10% 65% Poorly drained
87 Currituck County, North Carolina 8% 83% Very poorly drained
88 Jones County, North Carolina 8% 74% Poorly drained
89 Gates County, North Carolina 8% 67% Very poorly drained
90 Craven County, North Carolina 7% 73% Very poorly drained
91 Carteret County, North Carolina 5% 84% Very poorly drained
92 Washington County, North Carolina 3% 91% Very poorly drained
93 Perquimans County, North Carolina 3% 87% Poorly drained
94 Pamlico County, North Carolina 2% 86% Very poorly drained
95 Camden County, North Carolina 2% 92% Very poorly drained
96 Pasquotank County, North Carolina 1% 94% Poorly drained
97 Beaufort County, North Carolina 1% 86% Very poorly drained
98 Dare County, North Carolina 0% 88% Very poorly drained
99 Tyrrell County, North Carolina 0% 98% Very poorly drained
100 Hyde County, North Carolina 0% 89% Very poorly drained

See also: national drainage rankings | North Carolina gardening soil rankings | all North Carolina survey areas