Sinkhole risk in Baldwin County, GA: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 23%
At or near the surface: 21%
Buried under cover: 2%

What this means before you buy

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 58 of Baldwin County's 259 square miles on soluble rock, 54 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 43,644 residents (169 per square mile), homes are spread across towns and farmland, and a mapped unit may or may not reach the developed parts. The figures come from 271 map points about 1.0 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Baldwin County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Peach County, GA, about 47 miles southwest. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Jones County, GA 18 mi west · 11% at surface
Wilkinson County, GA 18 mi south · 44% at surface
Putnam County, GA 19 mi north · 0% at surface
Hancock County, GA 21 mi northeast · under 1% at surface
Washington County, GA 27 mi east · 10% at surface
Twiggs County, GA 29 mi south · 39% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Lower Tertiary-Cretaceous undifferentiated (sand), Lower Tertiary-Cretaceous in age, covering about 23% of the county.

Against the rest of Georgia

Baldwin County ranks 36 of 159 in Georgia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 75% of US counties on that measure.