South Carolina Soil Drainage Rankings

South Carolina

How well does the soil drain across South 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 Sumter National Forest Area, Oconee County, South Carolina at 97% well-drained soils. The most drainage-challenged is Beaufort County, South Carolina at 0%. With 81% poorly-drained soils, properties in Beaufort County, South Carolina should budget for drainage engineering, alternative septic designs, or raised-bed gardening.

#	Survey Area	Well Drained	Poorly Drained	Dominant Class
1	Sumter National Forest Area, Oconee County, South Carolina	97%	0%	Well drained
2	Oconee County Area, South Carolina	97%	0%	Well drained
3	Spartanburg County, South Carolina	96%	3%	Well drained
4	Cherokee County, South Carolina	94%	1%	Well drained
5	Pickens County, South Carolina	91%	3%	Well drained
6	Anderson County, South Carolina	90%	4%	Well drained
7	Greenville County, South Carolina	87%	6%	Well drained
8	Fairfield County, South Carolina	85%	3%	Well drained
9	Greenwood County, South Carolina	83%	8%	Well drained
10	Saluda County, South Carolina	83%	2%	Well drained
11	Laurens County, South Carolina	83%	8%	Well drained
12	Union County, South Carolina	82%	10%	Well drained
13	Chester County, South Carolina	82%	9%	Well drained
14	Abbeville County, South Carolina	79%	3%	Well drained
15	Edgefield County, South Carolina	77%	1%	Well drained
16	York County, South Carolina	76%	15%	Well drained
17	McCormick County, South Carolina	74%	9%	Well drained
18	Lancaster County, South Carolina	73%	10%	Well drained
19	Newberry County, South Carolina	72%	3%	Well drained
20	Calhoun County, South Carolina	59%	14%	Well drained
21	Barnwell County, South Carolina, Eastern Part	55%	19%	Well drained
22	Lexington County, South Carolina	50%	7%	Well drained
23	Richland County, South Carolina	50%	23%	Well drained
24	Lee County, South Carolina	49%	26%	Well drained
25	Aiken County Area, South Carolina	46%	9%	Well drained
26	Allendale County, South Carolina	45%	35%	Well drained
27	Chesterfield County, South Carolina	44%	16%	Well drained
28	Darlington County, South Carolina	43%	31%	Well drained
29	Orangeburg County, South Carolina	40%	40%	Well drained
30	Sumter County, South Carolina	40%	45%	Well drained
31	Kershaw County Area, South Carolina	38%	12%	Well drained
32	Marlboro County, South Carolina	37%	38%	Well drained
33	Savannah River Plant Area	37%	22%	Well drained
34	Bamberg County, South Carolina	30%	42%	Poorly drained
35	Clarendon County, South Carolina	29%	53%	Well drained
36	Dillon County, South Carolina	25%	53%	Well drained
37	Hampton County, South Carolina	24%	57%	Poorly drained
38	Florence County, South Carolina	21%	58%	Poorly drained
39	Williamsburg County, South Carolina	13%	62%	Poorly drained
40	Horry County, South Carolina	11%	60%	Poorly drained
41	Marion County, South Carolina	11%	64%	Poorly drained
42	Berkeley County, South Carolina	10%	66%	Poorly drained
43	Dorchester County, South Carolina	8%	72%	Poorly drained
44	Jasper County, South Carolina	2%	71%	Poorly drained
45	Charleston County Area, South Carolina	2%	77%	Very poorly drained
46	Colleton County, South Carolina	1%	77%	Poorly drained
47	Georgetown County, South Carolina	0%	70%	Very poorly drained
48	Beaufort County, South Carolina	0%	81%	Very poorly drained