Sinkhole risk in Wells County, IN: 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: 100%
At or near the surface: under 1%
Buried under cover: 100%

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 368 of Wells County's 368 square miles on soluble rock, 1 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 28,798 residents (78 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 315 map points about 1.1 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why the 100% under cover still counts, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Wells County

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

Adams County, IN 15 mi east · 0% at surface
Huntington County, IN 15 mi northwest · under 1% at surface
Blackford County, IN 19 mi south · 0% at surface
Jay County, IN 24 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Allen County, IN 26 mi north · 0% at surface
Grant County, IN 28 mi southwest · 0% at surface

What Wells County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Wabash Formation (limestone), Silurian in age, covering about 88% of the county. Next is the Pleasant Mills Formation at 11%.

Against the rest of Indiana

Wells County ranks 32 of 92 in Indiana for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 51% of US counties on that measure.