Sinkhole risk in Hancock County, ME: 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: 5%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 5%

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 81 of Hancock County's 1,587 square miles on soluble rock. With about 56,946 residents (36 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 572 map points about 1.7 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: why the 5% under cover still counts, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Hancock County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Union County, PA, about 506 miles southwest. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Waldo County, ME 37 mi west · 0% at surface
Washington County, ME 47 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Knox County, ME 49 mi southwest · under 1% at surface
Penobscot County, ME 60 mi north · 0% at surface
Lincoln County, ME 69 mi southwest · 1% at surface
Kennebec County, ME 70 mi west · 0% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Devonian - Ordovician Bucksport Formation (sandstone), Devonian - Ordovician in age, covering about 5% of the county.

Against the rest of Maine

Hancock County ranks 8 of 16 in Maine for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.