Sinkhole risk in Jefferson County, OR: 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: 2%
At or near the surface: 2%
Buried under cover: 0%

The next step for one property

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

That works out to roughly 27 of Jefferson County's 1,782 square miles on soluble rock, 27 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 25,536 residents (14 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 335 map points about 2.3 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Jefferson County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Emery County, UT, about 664 miles southeast. None of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so Jefferson County stands out from its surroundings.

Wasco County, OR 36 mi north · 0% at surface
Deschutes County, OR 50 mi south · 0% at surface
Crook County, OR 52 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Wheeler County, OR 57 mi east · 0% at surface
Sherman County, OR 58 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Clackamas County, OR 61 mi northwest · 0% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Sedimentary rocks, partly metamorphosed (Triassic and Paleozoic) (argillite), Paleozoic to Triassic in age, covering about 2% of the county.

Against the rest of Oregon

Jefferson County ranks 7 of 36 in Oregon for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 56% of US counties on that measure.