Sinkhole risk in Tulare County, CA: 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: 3%
At or near the surface: 3%
Buried under cover: 0%

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 135 of Tulare County's 4,824 square miles on soluble rock, 135 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 483,546 residents (100 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 326 map points about 3.8 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Tulare County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Emery County, UT, about 481 miles northeast. None of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so Tulare County stands out from its surroundings.

Kings County, CA 59 mi west · 0% at surface
Fresno County, CA 61 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Kern County, CA 61 mi south · under 1% at surface
Inyo County, CA 80 mi east · 17% at surface
Madera County, CA 86 mi northwest · 0% at surface
San Luis Obispo County, CA 110 mi southwest · under 1% at surface

What Tulare County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the pre-Cenozoic metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks undivided (schist), Early Proterozoic to Cretaceous in age, covering about 3% of the county.

Against the rest of California

Tulare County ranks 9 of 58 in California for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 59% of US counties on that measure.