Sinkhole risk in Taylor County, KY: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 49%
At or near the surface: 49%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

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 131 of Taylor County's 266 square miles on soluble rock, 131 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 26,809 residents (101 per square mile), homes are spread across towns and farmland, and a mapped unit may or may not reach the developed parts. The figures come from 506 map points about 0.7 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 Taylor County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Green County, KY, about 13 miles southwest, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Green County, KY 13 mi southwest · 88% at surface
Marion County, KY 13 mi north · 45% at surface
Adair County, KY 18 mi south · 39% at surface
Casey County, KY 22 mi east · 24% at surface
Larue County, KY 24 mi northwest · 78% at surface
Washington County, KY 28 mi north · 42% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Salem, Warsaw, and Harrodsburg Limestones, undivided (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about 34% of the county. Next is the Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis Limestones, undivided at 12%.

Against the rest of Kentucky

Taylor County ranks 41 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 87% of US counties on that measure.