Sinkhole risk in Seward County, NE: 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: 13%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 13%

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 74 of Seward County's 571 square miles on soluble rock. With about 17,769 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 391 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Seward County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Kearney County, NE, about 98 miles west. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

York County, NE 24 mi west · 0% at surface
Lancaster County, NE 24 mi east · 0% at surface
Butler County, NE 24 mi north · 0% at surface
Saline County, NE 25 mi south · 0% at surface
Polk County, NE 31 mi northwest · 2% at surface
Fillmore County, NE 34 mi southwest · 0% at surface

What Seward County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Greenhorn Limestone and Graneros Shale (shale), Late Cretaceous in age, covering about 13% of the county.

Against the rest of Nebraska

Seward County ranks 84 of 93 in Nebraska for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.