Sinkhole risk in Lafayette County, MO: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 59%
At or near the surface: 32%
Buried under cover: 27%

What this means before you buy

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 370 of Lafayette County's 628 square miles on soluble rock, 200 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 33,511 residents (53 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 282 map points about 1.5 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Lafayette County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Johnson County, MO, about 23 miles south, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. None of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so Lafayette County stands out from its surroundings.

Ray County, MO 20 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Johnson County, MO 23 mi south · 50% at surface
Jackson County, MO 29 mi west · 71% at surface
Carroll County, MO 30 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Saline County, MO 32 mi east · 10% at surface
Pettis County, MO 36 mi southeast · 71% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Marmaton Group (limestone), Middle Pennsylvanian-Middle Series-Desmonian Stage in age, covering about 57% of the county. Next is the Kansas City Group at 2%.

Against the rest of Missouri

Lafayette County ranks 62 of 115 in Missouri for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 80% of US counties on that measure.