Septic companies on Google: the 2026 benchmark report
Review counts, ratings, website presence and listed hours for 9,348 septic companies, computed from public Google Business Profile listings across 50 states.
Reviews
| Review count | Value |
|---|---|
| Median | 13 |
| Average (mean) | 45.7 |
| 25th percentile | 3 |
| 75th percentile | 38 |
| 90th percentile | 98 |
Share of septic companies by review count:
| Bucket | Share of listings |
|---|---|
| 0 reviews | 13.1% |
| Under 10 | 42.9% |
| Under 25 | 65% |
| 100 or more | 9.8% |
| 500 or more | 1.3% |
Ratings
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Average rating | 4.61 |
| Rated 5.0 | 41.5% |
| Rated 4.5 or higher | 76.4% |
| Rated under 4.0 | 10.4% |
| No rating yet | 9.1% |
Websites
| Website status | Share |
|---|---|
| Website listed | 67.8% |
| No website listed | 32.2% |
| Own domain | 65.8% |
| Social profile only | 1.7% |
| Free or DIY builder | 0.4% |
Median review count for septic companies with a website: 20. Without one: 5.
Profile completeness and hours
| Profile field | Share |
|---|---|
| Has a profile photo | 92.8% |
| Public email on profile | 15.8% |
| Open 24 hours | 16% |
| Open Saturday | 28% |
| Open Sunday | 19.5% |
| No hours listed | 48.6% |
Where the listings are
| State | Listings |
|---|---|
| TX | 572 |
| FL | 427 |
| GA | 318 |
| NC | 312 |
| WA | 237 |
| NY | 230 |
| CA | 228 |
| OH | 224 |
| PA | 222 |
| MA | 204 |
| MI | 197 |
| WI | 177 |
Primary categories
| Google category | Listings |
|---|---|
| Septic system service | 9,348 |
Where the typical septic company sits
Start with one number. Half of the 9,348 septic companies on Google have 13 reviews or fewer. That is a low bar, and it tells you something about the trade: most pumpers have been running on word of mouth, the county list and a sign on the truck for decades, and Google arrived late to their business. A one-truck company that gets to 40 reviews has passed the 75th percentile, which sits at 38. The top tenth starts at 98.
The bottom of the distribution is wide. 13.1% of companies have no reviews at all. 42.9% have fewer than 10 and 65% have fewer than 25. At the other end, 9.8% have passed 100 and only 1.3% have passed 500. The mean of 45.7 is pulled up by that small group of large regional pumpers with fleets. If you compare your company to the mean you will feel behind for no reason. Compare it to the percentiles for your state.
In most rural counties the map pack is decided by a handful of reviews. If three companies serve a county with 6, 14 and 38 reviews, the one with 38 gets the inspection calls. Review velocity in this trade is cheap because every pump-out ends with a relieved homeowner standing right there.
Ratings are high everywhere, so they do not separate you
The average rating is 4.6. 76.4% of rated companies sit at 4.5 stars or above and 41.5% hold a perfect 5.0. A high rating does not make you stand out. A rating under 4.5 makes you stand out in the wrong way, because a homeowner comparing three listings sees two at 4.8 and one at 4.2 and skips the third.
10.4% of companies are under 4 stars and 9.1% have no rating because they have no reviews. If you are in the first group, the fix is volume: twenty new honest reviews move a 3.9 faster than any reply to the old complaint. If you are in the second, you are invisible in the ranking Google uses for the map.
The website gap is the biggest single divide
32.2% of septic companies list no website. 67.8% do. The companies with a site have a median of 20 reviews. The companies without one have a median of 5. That is a four-to-one gap on the one number that decides the map.
A website does not create reviews by itself. The owners who put up a site are the same ones who ask for reviews, list hours and answer the phone. But the site is also where the big tickets get decided. A homeowner facing a $12,000 drain field replacement reads three websites before calling anyone. If you do not have one, you are not in that comparison at all.
Hours, photos and the fields owners skip
48.6% of septic listings show no hours at all. That is nearly half the trade telling Google nothing about when they answer. Only 16% show as open 24 hours, 28% show Saturday hours and 19.5% show Sunday. Backups do not happen on a schedule, and a Thanksgiving afternoon search for emergency septic pumping goes to the companies that say they are open.
Photos are the one thing the trade does well: 92.8% of listings have at least one. Public email is rare at 15.8%, which matters less for homeowners and more for agents, inspectors and builders who send work by email.
What to do with this
- Find your state on the state table and note the median and the 90th percentile. Your target is the 90th. In most states that is under 150 reviews, which a one-truck company can reach in two seasons.
- Ask for a review at every pump-out, at the tailgate, with the link texted before you leave the driveway. One review per three jobs puts you past the 75th percentile within a year.
- If you are in the 32.2% with no site, put up a simple one this month: tap-to-call, a pumping price range, a page per service and the counties you cover. See the website guide.
- List your hours. If you take emergency calls, say so on the profile. If you do not, list the real hours so callers are not sent to voicemail at 9 p.m. and lost.
- Set up missed-call text-back before you spend on ads. Use the calculator to see what the calls you miss on a lid cost per month.
- Once reviews and answering are handled, run a small pumping campaign on Google and build the agent and inspector list for installs. The Google Ads guide has the budgets.
Method
This report aggregates 9,348 public Google Business Profile listings collected from Google Maps searches for septic companies across every US state, deduplicated by place. Review counts and ratings are as displayed on the listing at collection time. "Website listed" means the profile links to any URL; we classify the URL as an owned domain, a social profile, or a free site builder by hostname. Figures are refreshed monthly. Cite this page as: Septic Owners Edge, "Septic companies on Google benchmark report", 2026.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, septic companies among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor