Sinkhole risk in Bingham County, ID: 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: 8%
At or near the surface: 8%
Buried under cover: 0%

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 167 of Bingham County's 2,094 square miles on soluble rock, 167 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 50,889 residents (24 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 566 map points about 1.9 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Bingham County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Emery County, UT, about 304 miles south. None of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so Bingham County stands out from its surroundings.

Bannock County, ID 37 mi south · 29% at surface
Jefferson County, ID 40 mi north · 0% at surface
Bonneville County, ID 41 mi east · 17% at surface
Power County, ID 43 mi southwest · 18% at surface
Butte County, ID 51 mi northwest · 24% at surface
Caribou County, ID 52 mi southeast · 24% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Limestone, sandstone, dolostone, and chert; Permian to Pennsylvanian marine epicontinental-basin deposits; southeastern Idaho; (limestone), Early Permian to Early Pennsylvanian in age, covering about 3% of the county. Next is the Shale, limestone, and sandstone; Triassic marine to non-marine epicontinental deposits (subunits are TRl and TRu) at 3%.

Against the rest of Idaho

Bingham County ranks 14 of 44 in Idaho for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 66% of US counties on that measure.