Sinkhole risk in Saline County, MO: Mostly deep or small

Mostly deep or small

Some soluble rock, mostly deeply buried or in a small share of the county.

On soluble rock: 43%
At or near the surface: 10%
Buried under cover: 32%

The next step for one property

Sinkholes are uncommon here; watch for new depressions after heavy rain or leaking pipes.

That works out to roughly 322 of Saline County's 756 square miles on soluble rock, 78 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 23,325 residents (31 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 272 map points about 1.7 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Saline County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Pettis County, MO, about 29 miles south, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Carroll County, MO 26 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Howard County, MO 27 mi east · 5% at surface
Pettis County, MO 29 mi south · 71% at surface
Cooper County, MO 29 mi southeast · 83% at surface
Chariton County, MO 29 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Lafayette County, MO 32 mi west · 32% at surface

What Saline County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Osagean Series (limestone), Early Mississippian-Osagean Series in age, covering about 35% of the county. Next is the Kinderhookian Series at 4%.

Against the rest of Missouri

Saline County ranks 69 of 115 in Missouri for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 68% of US counties on that measure.