Nebraska Soil Drainage Rankings
How well does the soil drain across Nebraska? 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 Frontier County, Nebraska at 99% well-drained soils. The most drainage-challenged is Arthur County, Nebraska at 0%.
| # | Survey Area | Well Drained | Poorly Drained | Dominant Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frontier County, Nebraska | 99% | 0% | Well drained |
| 2 | Gosper County, Nebraska | 98% | 1% | Well drained |
| 3 | Kimball County, Nebraska | 98% | 0% | Well drained |
| 4 | Harlan County, Nebraska | 98% | 1% | Well drained |
| 5 | Red Willow County, Nebraska | 97% | 1% | Well drained |
| 6 | Furnas County, Nebraska | 95% | 2% | Well drained |
| 7 | Hitchcock County, Nebraska | 95% | 0% | Well drained |
| 8 | Cheyenne, Nebraska | 94% | 0% | Well drained |
| 9 | Dawes County, Nebraska | 93% | 0% | Well drained |
| 10 | Hayes County, Nebraska | 92% | 0% | Well drained |
| 11 | York County, Nebraska | 91% | 6% | Well drained |
| 12 | Banner County, Nebraska | 91% | 1% | Well drained |
| 13 | Webster County, Nebraska | 91% | 1% | Well drained |
| 14 | Franklin County, Nebraska | 90% | 4% | Well drained |
| 15 | Sherman County, Nebraska | 89% | 6% | Well drained |
| 16 | Adams County, Nebraska | 88% | 2% | Well drained |
| 17 | Wayne County, Nebraska | 88% | 6% | Well drained |
| 18 | Dixon County, Nebraska | 86% | 5% | Well drained |
| 19 | Boone County, Nebraska | 86% | 3% | Well drained |
| 20 | Phelps County, Nebraska | 85% | 7% | Well drained |
| 21 | Valley County, Nebraska | 85% | 6% | Well drained |
| 22 | Thurston County, Nebraska | 84% | 9% | Well drained |
| 23 | Cedar County, Nebraska | 84% | 6% | Well drained |
| 24 | Hamilton County, Nebraska | 82% | 6% | Well drained |
| 25 | Deuel County, Nebraska | 81% | 2% | Well drained |
| 26 | Dawson County, Nebraska | 81% | 9% | Well drained |
| 27 | Seward County, Nebraska | 80% | 12% | Well drained |
| 28 | Custer County, Nebraska | 80% | 2% | Well drained |
| 29 | Polk County, Nebraska | 80% | 13% | Well drained |
| 30 | Nance County, Nebraska | 79% | 12% | Well drained |
| 31 | Buffalo County, Nebraska | 79% | 10% | Well drained |
| 32 | Perkins County, Nebraska | 79% | 0% | Well drained |
| 33 | Knox County, Nebraska | 78% | 5% | Well drained |
| 34 | Stanton County, Nebraska | 78% | 7% | Well drained |
| 35 | Nuckolls County, Nebraska | 78% | 3% | Well drained |
| 36 | Butler County, Nebraska | 78% | 17% | Well drained |
| 37 | Cuming County, Nebraska | 77% | 15% | Well drained |
| 38 | Sioux County, Nebraska | 77% | 1% | Well drained |
| 39 | Box Butte County, Nebraska | 77% | 2% | Well drained |
| 40 | Platte County, Nebraska | 77% | 13% | Well drained |
| 41 | Colfax County, Nebraska | 77% | 19% | Well drained |
| 42 | Sarpy County, Nebraska | 76% | 17% | Well drained |
| 43 | Washington County, Nebraska | 76% | 12% | Well drained |
| 44 | Greeley County, Nebraska | 74% | 2% | Well drained |
| 45 | Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska | 73% | 14% | Well drained |
| 46 | Madison County, Nebraska | 72% | 12% | Well drained |
| 47 | Boyd County, Nebraska | 72% | 2% | Well drained |
| 48 | Saunders County, Nebraska | 71% | 13% | Well drained |
| 49 | Cass County, Nebraska | 71% | 6% | Well drained |
| 50 | Dakota County, Nebraska | 68% | 18% | Well drained |
| 51 | Howard County, Nebraska | 67% | 7% | Well drained |
| 52 | Thayer County, Nebraska | 66% | 3% | Well drained |
| 53 | Chase County, Nebraska | 63% | 1% | Well drained |
| 54 | Burt County, Nebraska | 63% | 28% | Well drained |
| 55 | Kearney County, Nebraska | 63% | 12% | Well drained |
| 56 | Clay County, Nebraska | 61% | 13% | Well drained |
| 57 | Pierce County, Nebraska | 59% | 15% | Well drained |
| 58 | Douglas County, Nebraska | 57% | 32% | Well drained |
| 59 | Dodge County, Nebraska | 54% | 36% | Well drained |
| 60 | Keya Paha County, Nebraska | 52% | 9% | Well drained |
| 61 | Richardson County, Nebraska | 51% | 10% | Well drained |
| 62 | Antelope County, Nebraska | 51% | 5% | Well drained |
| 63 | Keith County, Nebraska | 48% | 7% | Well drained |
| 64 | Nemaha County, Nebraska | 48% | 12% | Well drained |
| 65 | Saline County, Nebraska | 47% | 5% | Well drained |
| 66 | Dundy County, Nebraska | 43% | 2% | Excessively drained |
| 67 | Morrill County, Nebraska | 43% | 10% | Well drained |
| 68 | Hall County, Nebraska | 43% | 23% | Well drained |
| 69 | Jefferson County, Nebraska | 42% | 1% | Moderately well drained |
| 70 | Lancaster County, Nebraska | 40% | 6% | Moderately well drained |
| 71 | Sheridan County, Nebraska | 36% | 7% | Excessively drained |
| 72 | Lincoln County, Nebraska | 35% | 8% | Excessively drained |
| 73 | Otoe County, Nebraska | 32% | 6% | Moderately well drained |
| 74 | Pawnee County, Nebraska | 28% | 7% | Moderately well drained |
| 75 | Fillmore County, Nebraska | 25% | 22% | Moderately well drained |
| 76 | Holt County, Nebraska | 22% | 32% | Excessively drained |
| 77 | Johnson County, Nebraska | 21% | 5% | Moderately well drained |
| 78 | Garden County, Nebraska | 20% | 8% | Excessively drained |
| 79 | Merrick County, Nebraska | 20% | 43% | Somewhat poorly drained |
| 80 | Logan County, Nebraska | 18% | 5% | Excessively drained |
| 81 | Garfield County, Nebraska | 16% | 16% | Excessively drained |
| 82 | Brown County, Nebraska | 13% | 9% | Excessively drained |
| 83 | Gage County, Nebraska | 10% | 1% | Moderately well drained |
| 84 | Loup County, Nebraska | 10% | 7% | Excessively drained |
| 85 | Wheeler County, Nebraska | 5% | 24% | Excessively drained |
| 86 | Rock County, Nebraska | 4% | 30% | Excessively drained |
| 87 | Cherry County, Nebraska | 3% | 7% | Excessively drained |
| 88 | Grant County, Nebraska | 2% | 10% | Excessively drained |
| 89 | Blaine County, Nebraska | 1% | 7% | Excessively drained |
| 90 | McPherson County, Nebraska | 0% | 1% | Excessively drained |
| 91 | Hooker County, Nebraska | 0% | 0% | Excessively drained |
| 92 | Thomas County, Nebraska | 0% | 0% | Excessively drained |
| 93 | Arthur County, Nebraska | 0% | 2% | Excessively drained |