Sinkhole risk in McCulloch County, TX: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 48%
At or near the surface: 48%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in McCulloch County

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 513 of McCulloch County's 1,066 square miles on soluble rock, 513 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 7,448 residents (7 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 360 map points about 1.7 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 McCulloch County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Runnels County, TX, about 57 miles northwest. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Concho County, TX 31 mi west · 67% at surface
San Saba County, TX 32 mi east · 59% at surface
Mason County, TX 35 mi south · 46% at surface
Menard County, TX 37 mi southwest · 93% at surface
Brown County, TX 44 mi northeast · 19% at surface
Coleman County, TX 49 mi north · 36% at surface

What McCulloch County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Edwards Limestone (limestone), Early Cretaceous in age, covering about 13% of the county. Next is the Gorman Formation at 6%.

Against the rest of Texas

McCulloch County ranks 53 of 254 in Texas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 87% of US counties on that measure.