Sinkhole risk in Taylor County, IA: 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: 84%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 84%

What this means before you buy

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

That works out to roughly 445 of Taylor County's 532 square miles on soluble rock. With about 5,825 residents (11 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 406 map points about 1.1 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Taylor County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Jackson County, MO, about 121 miles south. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Adams County, IA 20 mi north · 0% at surface
Worth County, MO 23 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Page County, IA 23 mi west · 0% at surface
Ringgold County, IA 24 mi east · 0% at surface
Nodaway County, MO 28 mi south · 0% at surface
Union County, IA 31 mi northeast · 0% at surface

What Taylor County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Shawnee Group (limestone), Late Pennsylvanian-Virgil Series in age, covering about 66% of the county. Next is the Wabaunsee Group at 9%.

The county also lies over the Forest City Basin, a deep salt or gypsum basin. Deep beds rarely cause surface collapse on their own, but wells and mining into them have.

Against the rest of Iowa

Taylor County ranks 88 of 99 in Iowa for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.