Sinkhole risk in Payne County, OK: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 18%
At or near the surface: 18%
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 123 of Payne County's 685 square miles on soluble rock, 123 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 84,199 residents (123 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 324 map points about 1.5 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 Payne County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Canadian County, OK, about 67 miles southwest. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Pawnee County, OK 22 mi northeast · 31% at surface
Noble County, OK 26 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Lincoln County, OK 27 mi south · 28% at surface
Logan County, OK 29 mi southwest · 0% at surface
Creek County, OK 35 mi east · 15% at surface
Oklahoma County, OK 44 mi southwest · 11% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Vanoss Group (shale), Late Pennsylvanian in age, covering about 18% of the county.

Against the rest of Oklahoma

Payne County ranks 34 of 77 in Oklahoma for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 73% of US counties on that measure.