Sinkhole risk in Miner County, SD: Mostly deep or small

Mostly deep or small

Some soluble rock, mostly deeply buried or in a small share of the county.

On soluble rock: 26%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 26%

What to do about a house in Miner County

Sinkholes are uncommon here; watch for new depressions after heavy rain or leaking pipes.

That works out to roughly 147 of Miner County's 570 square miles on soluble rock. With about 2,303 residents (4 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 408 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why the 26% under cover still counts, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Miner County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Knox County, NE, about 97 miles south. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Sanborn County, SD 24 mi west · 0% at surface
Lake County, SD 24 mi east · 0% at surface
Kingsbury County, SD 24 mi north · 0% at surface
Hanson County, SD 25 mi south · 0% at surface
McCook County, SD 27 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Davison County, SD 36 mi southwest · 0% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Niobrara Formation (limestone), Late Cretaceous in age, covering about 26% of the county.

Against the rest of South Dakota

Miner County ranks 51 of 66 in South Dakota for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.