Sinkhole risk in Thurston 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: 12%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 12%

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 46 of Thurston County's 394 square miles on soluble rock. With about 6,637 residents (17 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 311 map points about 1.1 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Thurston County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Knox County, NE, about 77 miles northwest. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Dakota County, NE 16 mi north · 0% at surface
Cuming County, NE 21 mi southwest · 0% at surface
Burt County, NE 23 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Dixon County, NE 28 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Woodbury County, IA 30 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Monona County, IA 30 mi east · 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 12% of the county.

Against the rest of Nebraska

Thurston County ranks 88 of 93 in Nebraska for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.