Sinkhole risk in Wichita County, TX: No soluble rock mapped

No soluble rock mapped

No soluble bedrock mapped.

On soluble rock: under 1%
At or near the surface: under 1%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

No soluble bedrock is mapped here, so natural sinkholes are unlikely. Collapses from broken pipes or old mines are a separate risk.

That works out to roughly 4 of Wichita County's 628 square miles on soluble rock, 4 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 129,984 residents (207 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 330 map points about 1.4 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 Wichita County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Wilbarger County, TX, about 31 miles west, 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.

Archer County, TX 26 mi south · 0% at surface
Cotton County, OK 28 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Tillman County, OK 29 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Wilbarger County, TX 31 mi west · 39% at surface
Clay County, TX 32 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Baylor County, TX 38 mi southwest · 50% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Clear Fork Group (mudstone), Permian; Leonard Series in age, covering about under 1% of the county.

Against the rest of Texas

Wichita County ranks 140 of 254 in Texas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 53% of US counties on that measure.