Sinkhole risk in Kittson County, MN: 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: 59%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 59%

What to do about a house in Kittson County

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

That works out to roughly 650 of Kittson County's 1,099 square miles on soluble rock. With about 3,992 residents (4 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 374 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 59% under cover still counts, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Kittson County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Boyd County, NE, about 418 miles south. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Marshall County, MN 34 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Pembina County, ND 35 mi west · 0% at surface
Roseau County, MN 44 mi east · 0% at surface
Walsh County, ND 51 mi southwest · under 1% at surface
Pennington County, MN 60 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Grand Forks County, ND 66 mi southwest · 0% at surface

What Kittson County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Middle and Upper Ordovician rocks, undivided (sandstone), Middle and Late Ordovician in age, covering about 59% of the county.

Against the rest of Minnesota

Kittson County ranks 39 of 87 in Minnesota for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.