Sinkhole risk in Butler County, OH: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 100%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 100%

What to do about a house in Butler 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 467 of Butler County's 467 square miles on soluble rock. With about 399,542 residents (856 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 345 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: why the 100% under cover still counts, and the signs to look for and how an inspection works.

Counties around Butler County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Kenton County, KY, about 35 miles south, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Hamilton County, OH 17 mi south · 2% at surface
Preble County, OH 21 mi north · 0% at surface
Warren County, OH 21 mi east · 0% at surface
Union County, IN 23 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Montgomery County, OH 26 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Franklin County, IN 27 mi west · 2% at surface

What Butler County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Waynesville and Arnheim Formations, Undivided (shale), Ordovician in age, covering about 33% of the county. Next is the Grant Lake and Fairview Formations, Miamitown Shale, Undivided at 32%.

Against the rest of Ohio

Butler County ranks 16 of 88 in Ohio for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.