Sinkhole risk in Northampton 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: 34%
At or near the surface: 34%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Northampton 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 185 of Northampton County's 537 square miles on soluble rock, 185 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 16,580 residents (31 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 480 map points about 1.1 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Northampton County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Hertford County, NC, about 24 miles east, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Halifax County, NC 18 mi southwest · 24% at surface
Greensville County, VA 20 mi northwest · 2% at surface
Emporia city, VA 20 mi north · 0% at surface
Hertford County, NC 24 mi east · 75% at surface
Southampton County, VA 26 mi northeast · 21% at surface
Franklin city, VA 31 mi northeast · 0% at surface

What Northampton County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Yorktown Formation and Duplin Formation, Undivided (clay or mud), Tertiary in age, covering about 34% of the county. Next is the Chesapeake Group at under 1%.

Against the rest of North Carolina

Northampton County ranks 28 of 100 in North Carolina for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 81% of US counties on that measure.