Sinkhole risk in Essex County, NY: Mostly deep or small

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 129 of Essex County's 1,794 square miles on soluble rock. With about 36,744 residents (20 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 265 map points about 2.6 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why the 7% under cover still counts, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Essex County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Union County, PA, about 274 miles southwest. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

• Addison County, VT 32 mi east · under 1% at surface
• Warren County, NY 38 mi south · 0% at surface
• Franklin County, NY 43 mi northwest · 0% at surface
• Chittenden County, VT 43 mi northeast · 0% at surface
• Clinton County, NY 45 mi north · under 1% at surface
• Hamilton County, NY 48 mi southwest · 0% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Calcitic and dolomitic marble (marble), Middle Proterozoic in age, covering about 3% of the county. Next is the Beekmantown Group (in part) at 3%.

Against the rest of New York

Essex County ranks 20 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%