Sinkhole risk in Laclede County, MO: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

Soluble rock at or near the surface across much of the county.

On soluble rock: 100%
At or near the surface: 100%
Buried under cover: 0%

The next step for one property

Get a sinkhole or geotechnical inspection before buying, building or adding weight to a foundation.

That works out to roughly 765 of Laclede County's 765 square miles on soluble rock, 765 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 36,738 residents (48 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 330 map points about 1.5 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Laclede County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Van Buren County, AR, about 144 miles south. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Dallas County, MO 24 mi west · 100% at surface
Pulaski County, MO 24 mi northeast · 100% at surface
Camden County, MO 27 mi north · 100% at surface
Wright County, MO 28 mi south · 100% at surface
Webster County, MO 30 mi southwest · 100% at surface
Miller County, MO 40 mi north · 100% at surface

What Laclede County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Roubidoux Formation (sandstone), Early Ordovician-Ibexian Series in age, covering about 52% of the county. Next is the Smithville Dolomite, Powell Dolomite, Cotter Dolomite, Jefferson City Dolomite at 40%.

Against the rest of Missouri

Laclede County ranks 7 of 115 in Missouri for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 99% of US counties on that measure.