Sinkhole risk in Nash County, NC: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 16%
At or near the surface: 16%
Buried under cover: 0%

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 84 of Nash County's 540 square miles on soluble rock, 84 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 97,990 residents (181 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 557 map points about 1.0 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 Nash County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Wilson County, NC, about 19 miles south, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Franklin County, NC 19 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Wilson County, NC 19 mi south · 68% at surface
Edgecombe County, NC 22 mi east · 62% at surface
Halifax County, NC 27 mi northeast · 24% at surface
Warren County, NC 31 mi north · 0% at surface
Vance County, NC 36 mi northwest · 0% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Yorktown Formation and Duplin Formation, Undivided (clay or mud), Tertiary in age, covering about 16% of the county.

Against the rest of North Carolina

Nash County ranks 35 of 100 in North Carolina for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 72% of US counties on that measure.