Sinkhole risk in Caldwell County, TX: 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%

The next step for one property

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

That works out to roughly 41 of Caldwell County's 545 square miles on soluble rock, 41 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 52,430 residents (96 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 523 map points about 1.0 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Caldwell County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Runnels County, TX, about 197 miles northwest. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Guadalupe County, TX 26 mi southwest · 9% at surface
Bastrop County, TX 27 mi northeast · 4% at surface
Gonzales County, TX 27 mi south · 0% at surface
Travis County, TX 28 mi north · 57% at surface
Hays County, TX 29 mi northwest · 88% at surface
Comal County, TX 38 mi west · 92% at surface

What Caldwell County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Midway Group, undivided (fine-grained mixed clastic), Paleocene in age, covering about 8% of the county.

The county also lies over the Gulf Coast salt domes, a deep salt or gypsum basin. Deep beds rarely cause surface collapse on their own, but wells and mining into them have.

Against the rest of Texas

Caldwell County ranks 120 of 254 in Texas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 66% of US counties on that measure.