Sinkhole risk in Rutherford County, TN: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

Soluble rock at or near the surface across much of the county.

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

What to do about a house in Rutherford County

Get a sinkhole or geotechnical inspection before buying, building or adding weight to a foundation.

That works out to roughly 617 of Rutherford County's 620 square miles on soluble rock, 617 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 376,996 residents (609 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 244 map points about 1.6 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 Rutherford County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Morgan County, TN, about 101 miles east. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Cannon County, TN 20 mi east · 63% at surface
Wilson County, TN 22 mi north · 94% at surface
Bedford County, TN 23 mi south · 93% at surface
Williamson County, TN 27 mi west · 72% at surface
Davidson County, TN 30 mi northwest · 75% at surface
Coffee County, TN 31 mi southeast · 74% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Stones River Group; Ridley Limestone (limestone), Ordovician in age, covering about 53% of the county. Next is the Stones River Group; Lebanon Limestone at 28%.

Against the rest of Tennessee

Rutherford County ranks 2 of 95 in Tennessee for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 99% of US counties on that measure.