Sinkhole risk in Kings County, NY: No soluble rock mapped

What to do about a house in Kings County

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

Across 69 square miles, under one square mile of Kings County maps onto soluble rock. With about 2,617,631 residents (37,731 per square mile), most of the county is built up, so a mapped unit is likely to sit under somebody's street. The figures come from 605 map points about 0.3 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Kings County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Union County, PA, about 164 miles west. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

• Queens County, NY 6 mi east · 0% at surface
• Hudson County, NJ 9 mi northwest · 0% at surface
• New York County, NY 10 mi north · under 1% at surface
• Richmond County, NY 11 mi southwest · 0% at surface
• Bronx County, NY 16 mi north · 0% at surface
• Essex County, NJ 19 mi northwest · 0% at surface

Against the rest of New York

Kings County ranks 27 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%