Somerset County, in Pennsylvania, sits in USDA hardiness zone 6a — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.
Well-matched crops include cabbage, blackberry, california poppy, and collard greens, and the gap between "grows in the area" and "grows in your yard" is closed by soil, sun, and drainage.
Somerset County lies within the Laurel Highlands and Appalachia — a regional growing area with its own character.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Somerset County holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Somerset County, so your frost dates and drainage aren't the county average. Enter your address and we'll score 1,086 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.
We read public map data around Somerset County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Somerset County — the short answer
Somerset County, Pennsylvania: USDA zone 6a, about 164 days between hard freezes, across 688K acres.
- USDA zone
- 6a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- May 4
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 15
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~164
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 688K acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are county 28°F normals: light frosts run a few weeks past them, and tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks after the last hard freeze.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 6a is Somerset County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Somerset County's 164-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat in Somerset County
Across a year, Somerset County accumulates about 1,826 growing degree days above 50°F, about 721 fewer than the middle Pennsylvania county — ahead of 2 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. Degree days are the heat a crop actually gets to work with — more of them is more room to ripen a long-season crop before the freeze closes the window.
Grounded in PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University — 1991–2020 monthly normals
Soil in Somerset County
Across Somerset County, the ground is predominantly Ultisols, where Rayne, Hazleton, and Gilpin are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally well drained with a channery silt loam surface. Topsoil pH runs about 4.6–5.6, strongly acidic. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group B soils.
Soil order
Ultisols
Drainage
Well drained
Prime farmland
12%
Hydric soils
8%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Somerset County
The USDA soil survey maps 63% of Somerset County as well drained — but another 36% drains differently: 23% moderately well drained, 8% poorly drained.
Rayne is the most extensive named soil at 17% of mapped acres, then Hazleton (16%) and Gilpin (10%).
Which of them your own lot sits on is a parcel question, not a county one. Check your address for the survey at your boundary.
What this means for growing in Somerset County
Each reading below is measured for Somerset County itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Drainage
MeasuredThe dominant soils across Somerset County are well drained, in hydrologic group B — ground that drains quickly.
The upside is soil you can work early in spring and roots that never drown; the cost is that fast-draining ground dries out fast and leaches nutrients away before plants can use them.
Work in compost and mulch to hold moisture and feed, and water more often in short doses than deep and rarely.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Surface pH
MeasuredTopsoil across Somerset County runs about pH 4.6–5.6, on the acidic side.
Blueberries, potatoes, and rhododendrons thrive in it, but most vegetables start locking out nutrients below about pH 6.0 and grow pale and stunted no matter how much you feed them.
A measured lime application raises pH for the crops that need it — but test first, because the right rate depends on your own soil, not the county average.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Season length
MeasuredSomerset County runs about 164 days between hard freezes — a moderate growing season.
There is room for the full run of cool-season crops plus a warm-season main crop, but the calendar is tight enough that a late spring or early fall frost still decides how much finishes.
Time warm-season transplants to your last hard freeze, and a few weeks of season extension turns a near-miss harvest into a sure one.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredSomerset County sits in USDA hardiness zone 6a.
The zone sets which perennials, shrubs, and fruit trees live through an average winter here — a plant rated for a colder zone is a safe bet, one rated warmer needs winter protection or gets treated as an annual.
Match perennials and fruit to the zone before you buy, so nothing you plant is a gamble against the cold.
USDA PHZM 2023
The kind of country Somerset County is in
Somerset County spans 2 EPA Level III ecoregions — Central Appalachians (88%) and Ridge and Valley (12%). Which one your land falls in changes what grows wild there and how the ground behaves, and a county-wide answer cannot tell you which.
What Grows in Somerset County
We scored all 1,086 plants against Somerset County's own USDA zone 6a and its own 164-day season between hard freezes, using the same matching engine that runs a full parcel report. These cleared both. Sun, soil pH and drainage vary lot by lot — those are the parcel questions below. Each card opens that plant's Pennsylvania profile.
Is it too late to plant in Somerset County?
Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 6; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 4 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 15 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. As the window narrows, the plantings just get faster — fall brassicas, then greens, then garlic to finish.
Documented around Somerset County
Spotted lanternfly documented 2 miles from Somerset County, first recorded 2019. What to watch for.
- Japanese beetle2 documented records
- monarch butterfly269 documented records
Sighting records, so they follow observers as much as insects.
What gets applied to farmland in Somerset County
USGS estimates 23,434 lb of Glyphosate on Somerset County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of Metolachlor & Metolachlor-s (20,647 lb) and Metolachlor-s (17,295 lb).
Farmland across the whole county, not any one lot. Check your address for the site-by-site record.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Somerset County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Somerset County — 676 documented sites across 7 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 3 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed). Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
There's a meaningful federal record across Somerset County — worth a look before you plant food, not a reason to hold back from growing. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. A soil test before new food beds is the sensible precaution here, and the map shows exactly which sites sit where, so you can see what's actually near you.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What's on the federal record near Somerset County
Closest first, across Somerset County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- STAHL OIL CO INCBrownfields · 2600 ft
- SO 854 Somerset County Observation WellNitrate · 0.7 mi
- PA TURNPIKE FACILITY SOMERSET MAINTENANCEBrownfields · 0.9 mi
- SOMERSET MAINTUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
- PTC SOMERSET MAINT FACUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
- BERKEBILE OIL CO INCToxics Release Inventory · 1.2 mi
- BERKEBILE OILUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.2 mi
- SOMERSET EDUCATION CENTERBrownfields · 1.3 mi
- GTE NORTH INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.4 mi
- GILMOUR MFG CO/SOMERSETToxics Release Inventory · 1.4 mi
- GILMOUR MFG CO/SOMERSETBrownfields · 1.4 mi
- BECKWITH MACHINERY COMPANYBrownfields · 1.4 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Somerset County's center, not your beds. Run your own address for what's upwind of you specifically.
Environmental Intelligence
The counts behind that headline — every source type on the record near Somerset County.
Total Sites
676
across Somerset County
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
3 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
across Somerset County
Severity Distribution
across Somerset County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Somerset County, two things run higher than the national average across Somerset County — CAFO (10 sites) and PFAS (6 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
CAFO: CAFOs pose a different contamination profile than chemical sources.
PFAS: PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are called "forever chemicals" because they do not biodegrade.
Wash all produce consumed raw thoroughly, especially leafy greens grown near CAFOs.
Test irrigation water source — this is the primary pathway for PFAS to reach garden crops.
Check your specific parcel in Somerset County
Get exact proximity distances to contamination sources for your specific parcel — plus soil, sun, drainage, and 1,086 plant recommendations.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Somerset County average
Your land is one point inside Somerset County
Everything above resolves to Somerset County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 688K acres. Your parcel is one point inside that footprint. Slope, tree cover, a low spot that pools cold air, and what is in the soil are all resolved at the address, and none of them are visible at county scale. That is the honest boundary of this page, and the reason the next step is a reading of your own ground rather than a better county average.
Your Lot vs the Somerset County Average
Somerset County Average
- ●USDA Zones 6a, averaged across Somerset County
- ●One soil character for all of Somerset County
- ●Frost dates read at Somerset County's scale: May 4 to Oct 15
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Somerset County's 6a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Somerset County
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Somerset County, Pennsylvania — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Somerset County averages can't show:
We read public map data around Somerset County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Somerset County average
How we know this about Somerset County
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at county grain; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at this county’s own record where one resolves, and the labelled statewide window where none does; soils from the USDA NRCS SSURGO survey, area-weighted across the county’s own map units; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination and pesticide records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Where Somerset County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Somerset County
When does frost risk typically end in Somerset County?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Somerset County typically lands around May 4, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — earlier than the light-frost dates most charts quote. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — lighter frosts keep biting past it, which is why tender transplants here wait until about May 25.
How long is the growing season in Somerset County?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Somerset County sees about 164 frost-free days — roughly May 4 through Oct 15, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 25 to Oct 1, about 129 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Somerset County?
The federal record around Somerset County is a meaningful one — 676 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (368), the nearest Brownfields record about 0.5 miles out — so a soil test before new food beds is a sensible precaution here, not a reason to hold back from growing. Remember that proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what sits where.
Everything above is measured at Somerset County's scale — its 6a band and its 164-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Somerset County's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
Will It Grow Here?
Zone fit is the first question — each answer below reads Pennsylvania's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Somerset County’s own scale
9 of the readings below were taken at Somerset County's own scale — its own ~164-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 676 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Somerset County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 6aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Somerset County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~164-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Somerset CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 676 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Brownfields record about 0.5 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Somerset County's boundary and the 688,030 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 6a and a ~164-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The 2 ecoregions Somerset County spans, Central Appalachians the largestUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Open occurrence records documented in Somerset County for 2 tracked speciesGBIF derived datasets (CC0 / CC BY 4.0)
- Which agricultural compounds go onto Somerset County farmland, and roughly how muchUSGS NAWQA EPest county estimates
Inherited from a wider read
- The growing challenges every Pennsylvania grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Pennsylvania
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Somerset County — the ~164 days above is one reading at its centre; the 12 towns below each carry their owntowns in this county →
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Somerset County's 688,030 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 676 documented sites actually reaches your soil — that needs your address, the wind, and the groundwater directionhow we read the record →
- Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — none of it survives being averaged over Somerset Countyread your own land →