Sinkhole risk in Thayer 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: 4%
At or near the surface: 2%
Buried under cover: 2%

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 24 of Thayer County's 574 square miles on soluble rock, 13 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 4,870 residents (8 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 414 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Thayer County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Franklin County, NE, about 72 miles west. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Nuckolls County, NE 24 mi west · 52% at surface
Jefferson County, NE 24 mi east · 5% at surface
Republic County, KS 24 mi south · 19% at surface
Fillmore County, NE 24 mi north · 0% at surface
Clay County, NE 34 mi northwest · 60% at surface
Saline County, NE 34 mi northeast · 0% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Greenhorn Limestone and Graneros Shale (shale), Late Cretaceous in age, covering about 4% of the county.

Against the rest of Nebraska

Thayer County ranks 28 of 93 in Nebraska for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 58% of US counties on that measure.