SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Perry County, TN: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock
31%
At or near the surface
31%
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 128 of Perry County's 415 square miles on soluble rock, 128 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 8,987 residents (22 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 266 map points about 1.2 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 Perry County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Dickson County, TN, about 44 miles northeast. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

What Perry County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Silurian Formations, including Decatur Limestone, Brownsport Group (Lobelville Formation, Bob Limestone, Beech River Formation), Wayne Group (Dixon Formation, Lego Formation, Waldron Shale, Laurel Limestone, Osgood Formation) and Brassfield Limestone (limestone), Silurian in age, covering about 21% of the county. Next is the Devonian Formations, includes Pegram Formation, Camden Formation, Harriman Formation, Flat Gap Limestone, and Ross Formation at 8%.

Against the rest of Tennessee

Perry County ranks 58 of 95 in Tennessee for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 80% of US counties on that measure.