SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in New York County, NY: 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
16%
At or near the surface
under 1%
Buried under cover
15%

The next step for one property

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

That works out to roughly 4 of New York County's 23 square miles on soluble rock. With about 1,660,664 residents (73,293 per square mile), most of the county is built up, so a mapped unit is likely to sit under somebody's street. The figures come from 379 map points about 0.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Read next: why the 15% under cover still counts, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around New York County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Union County, PA, about 162 miles west. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

What New York County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Inwood Marble (marble), Early Cambrian - Lower Ordovician in age, covering about 16% of the county.

Against the rest of New York

New York County ranks 1 of 62 in New York for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 54% of US counties on that measure.