Sinkhole risk in Allegany County, NY: No soluble rock mapped

The next step for one property

No soluble bedrock is mapped here, so natural sinkholes are unlikely. Collapses from broken pipes or old mines are a separate risk.

Across 1,030 square miles, under one square mile of Allegany County maps onto soluble rock. With about 47,299 residents (46 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 386 map points about 1.6 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Allegany County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Union County, PA, about 102 miles southeast. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

• Cattaraugus County, NY 33 mi west · 0% at surface
• Steuben County, NY 33 mi east · 0% at surface
• Wyoming County, NY 33 mi north · 0% at surface
• Potter County, PA 35 mi south · 0% at surface
• Livingston County, NY 36 mi north · 0% at surface
• McKean County, PA 41 mi southwest · 0% at surface

Against the rest of New York

Allegany County ranks 8 of 62 in New York for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.

• New York County under 1%
• St. Lawrence County under 1%
• Saratoga County under 1%
• Cayuga County under 1%
• Clinton County under 1%