Sinkhole risk in Pierce County, GA: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 100%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 100%

What to do about a house in Pierce 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 340 of Pierce County's 340 square miles on soluble rock. With about 20,669 residents (61 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 249 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: why the 100% under cover still counts, and the signs to look for and how an inspection works.

Counties around Pierce County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Nassau County, FL, about 58 miles southeast. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Brantley County, GA 17 mi southeast · under 1% at surface
Bacon County, GA 20 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Wayne County, GA 22 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Ware County, GA 24 mi southwest · 0% at surface
Appling County, GA 27 mi north · 0% at surface
Long County, GA 39 mi northeast · 0% at surface

What Pierce County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the "Hawthorn Formation" (sand), Miocene in age, covering about 65% of the county. Next is the Charlton Formation and Duplin Marl at 35%.

Against the rest of Georgia

Pierce County ranks 133 of 159 in Georgia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.