Sinkhole risk in Cattaraugus County, NY: No soluble rock mapped

The next step for one property

No soluble bedrock is mapped here, so natural sinkholes are unlikely. Collapses from broken pipes or old mines are a separate risk.

Across 1,308 square miles, under one square mile of Cattaraugus County maps onto soluble rock. With about 75,475 residents (58 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 372 map points about 1.9 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Cattaraugus County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Union County, PA, about 121 miles southeast. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

• McKean County, PA 30 mi south · 0% at surface
• Allegany County, NY 33 mi east · 0% at surface
• Erie County, NY 36 mi north · 0% at surface
• Chautauqua County, NY 38 mi west · 0% at surface
• Wyoming County, NY 39 mi northeast · 0% at surface
• Warren County, PA 43 mi southwest · 0% at surface

Against the rest of New York

Cattaraugus County ranks 11 of 62 in New York for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.

• New York County under 1%
• St. Lawrence County under 1%
• Saratoga County under 1%
• Cayuga County under 1%
• Clinton County under 1%