Sinkhole risk in Lenoir County, NC: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 71%
At or near the surface: 71%
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 283 of Lenoir County's 399 square miles on soluble rock, 283 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 55,332 residents (139 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 569 map points about 0.8 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Lenoir County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Franklin County, NC, about 69 miles northwest. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Greene County, NC 17 mi north · 82% at surface
Jones County, NC 21 mi southeast · 92% at surface
Wayne County, NC 22 mi west · 84% at surface
Duplin County, NC 27 mi southwest · 93% at surface
Pitt County, NC 28 mi northeast · 86% at surface
Craven County, NC 32 mi east · 69% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Peedee Formation (sand), Cretaceous in age, covering about 51% of the county. Next is the Black Creek Formation at 20%.

Against the rest of North Carolina

Lenoir County ranks 15 of 100 in North Carolina for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 93% of US counties on that measure.