Sinkhole risk in Wilson County, TN: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

Soluble rock at or near the surface across much of the county.

On soluble rock: 94%
At or near the surface: 94%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

Get a sinkhole or geotechnical inspection before buying, building or adding weight to a foundation.

That works out to roughly 536 of Wilson County's 571 square miles on soluble rock, 536 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 169,948 residents (298 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 261 map points about 1.5 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Wilson County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Morgan County, TN, about 92 miles east. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Trousdale County, TN 18 mi northeast · 85% at surface
Smith County, TN 21 mi northeast · 87% at surface
Rutherford County, TN 22 mi south · 100% at surface
Sumner County, TN 24 mi northwest · 70% at surface
Cannon County, TN 27 mi southeast · 63% at surface
Davidson County, TN 28 mi west · 75% at surface

What Wilson County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Stones River Group; Carters Limestone (limestone), Ordovician in age, covering about 40% of the county. Next is the Stones River Group; Lebanon Limestone at 25%.

Against the rest of Tennessee

Wilson County ranks 8 of 95 in Tennessee for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 98% of US counties on that measure.