Sinkhole risk in Beadle County, SD: Mostly deep or small

Mostly deep or small

Some soluble rock, mostly deeply buried or in a small share of the county.

On soluble rock: 19%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 19%

What this means before you buy

Sinkholes are uncommon here; watch for new depressions after heavy rain or leaking pipes.

That works out to roughly 244 of Beadle County's 1,259 square miles on soluble rock. With about 19,459 residents (15 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 392 map points about 1.8 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why the 19% under cover still counts, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Beadle County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Boyd County, NE, about 108 miles south. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Sanborn County, SD 29 mi south · 0% at surface
Jerauld County, SD 30 mi southwest · 0% at surface
Spink County, SD 35 mi north · 0% at surface
Hand County, SD 37 mi west · 0% at surface
Kingsbury County, SD 39 mi east · 0% at surface
Clark County, SD 41 mi northeast · 0% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Niobrara Formation (limestone), Late Cretaceous in age, covering about 19% of the county.

Against the rest of South Dakota

Beadle County ranks 15 of 66 in South Dakota for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.