Sinkhole risk in Laurel County, KY: No soluble rock mapped

No soluble rock mapped

No soluble bedrock mapped.

On soluble rock: under 1%
At or near the surface: under 1%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

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

That works out to roughly 2 of Laurel County's 434 square miles on soluble rock, 2 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 63,353 residents (146 per square mile), homes are spread across towns and farmland, and a mapped unit may or may not reach the developed parts. The figures come from 245 map points about 1.3 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 Laurel County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Pulaski County, KY, about 25 miles west, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Rockcastle County, KY 20 mi northwest · 39% at surface
Jackson County, KY 21 mi north · 13% at surface
Knox County, KY 21 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Clay County, KY 23 mi east · 0% at surface
Whitley County, KY 25 mi south · under 1% at surface
Pulaski County, KY 25 mi west · 60% at surface

What Laurel County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Pennington Formation (Paragon Formation), Bangor Limestone, Hartselle Formation, and Kidder Limestone Member of Monteagle Limestone, undivided (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about under 1% of the county.

Against the rest of Kentucky

Laurel County ranks 90 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 52% of US counties on that measure.