Sinkhole risk in Beaufort County, NC: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 41%
At or near the surface: 41%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Beaufort County

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 338 of Beaufort County's 833 square miles on soluble rock, 338 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 44,576 residents (54 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 266 map points about 1.8 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Beaufort County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Craven County, NC, about 29 miles southwest, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Pamlico County, NC 25 mi southeast · 17% at surface
Craven County, NC 29 mi southwest · 69% at surface
Washington County, NC 29 mi northeast · 11% at surface
Martin County, NC 30 mi northwest · 84% at surface
Pitt County, NC 31 mi west · 86% at surface
Hyde County, NC 39 mi east · 0% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Yorktown Formation and Duplin Formation, Undivided (clay or mud), Tertiary in age, covering about 41% of the county.

Against the rest of North Carolina

Beaufort County ranks 24 of 100 in North Carolina for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 84% of US counties on that measure.