Sinkhole risk in Cumberland County, NJ: No soluble rock mapped

What to do about a house in Cumberland County

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

Across 483 square miles, under one square mile of Cumberland County maps onto soluble rock. With about 155,678 residents (322 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 245 map points about 1.4 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Read next: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Cumberland County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Washington County, MD, about 145 miles west. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

• Salem County, NJ 21 mi northwest · 15% at surface
• Cape May County, NJ 22 mi southeast · 0% at surface
• Kent County, DE 26 mi southwest · 0% at surface
• Gloucester County, NJ 27 mi north · 9% at surface
• Atlantic County, NJ 28 mi east · 0% at surface
• New Castle County, DE 33 mi northwest · under 1% at surface

Against the rest of New Jersey

Cumberland County ranks 14 of 21 in New Jersey for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.

• Salem County 15%
• Monmouth County 13%
• Warren County 10%
• Gloucester County 9%
• Camden County 6%