Sinkhole risk in Jackson County, KY: 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: 13%
At or near the surface: 13%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Jackson County

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

That works out to roughly 44 of Jackson County's 345 square miles on soluble rock, 44 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 13,358 residents (39 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 260 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Jackson County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Garrard County, KY, about 33 miles northwest, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Rockcastle County, KY 16 mi west · 39% at surface
Owsley County, KY 18 mi east · 0% at surface
Estill County, KY 20 mi north · 17% at surface
Laurel County, KY 21 mi south · under 1% at surface
Lee County, KY 22 mi northeast · 6% at surface
Clay County, KY 24 mi southeast · 0% at surface

What Jackson County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Pennington Formation and Newman Limestone (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about 13% of the county.

Against the rest of Kentucky

Jackson County ranks 73 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 70% of US counties on that measure.