Sinkhole risk in Phelps County, NE: No soluble rock mapped

What this means before you buy

No soluble bedrock is mapped here, so natural sinkholes are unlikely. Collapses from broken pipes or old mines are a separate risk.

Across 540 square miles, under one square mile of Phelps County maps onto soluble rock. With about 9,042 residents (17 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 395 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Read next: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Phelps County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Harlan County, NE, about 23 miles south, 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.

• Gosper County, NE 22 mi west · under 1% at surface
• Harlan County, NE 23 mi south · 37% at surface
• Kearney County, NE 24 mi east · 47% at surface
• Buffalo County, NE 29 mi northeast · 4% at surface
• Dawson County, NE 32 mi northwest · 0% at surface
• Franklin County, NE 33 mi southeast · 78% at surface

Against the rest of Nebraska

Phelps County ranks 77 of 93 in Nebraska for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.

• Hamilton County 80%
• Adams County 79%
• Merrick County 79%
• Webster County 78%
• Franklin County 78%