Florida Sinkhole Statistics (2026): Reports by County, Tampa Bay Risk and Insurance Rules

Name: Florida Sinkhole Statistics (2026): Tampa Bay by County
Creator: The Rothfuss Team Realty
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

James Rothfuss IIBroker · Nov 11, 2026 · 10 min read

Last updated: November 11, 2026. We update this page every quarter.

Florida’s state geologists have logged 4,465 reported sinkholes and other ground-subsidence incidents, and Hillsborough County has more than any other county, with 618. The four Tampa Bay counties account for 1,399 reports, or 31% of the state total. Hernando has the most reports for its size, at 32.8 per 10,000 homes. Below are the counts by county and year, what the data can and can’t tell you, and the insurance rules every buyer here should know.

TL;DR
Statewide: the Florida Geological Survey has 4,465 subsidence incident reports on file, with events dated through Oct. 30, 2026.
Hillsborough leads Florida: 618 reports, more than any other county. Pasco (345) and Hernando (315) rank fourth and fifth.
Per home: Hernando has 32.8 reports per 10,000 homes, nearly eight times the Florida rate of 4.2.
A typical year: Florida averaged about 66 reports a year from 2021 to 2025, and Tampa Bay about 19.
Most are small and unverified: the median reported hole is 7 feet long and 6 feet deep. Only 104 reports (2.3%) were confirmed as true sinkholes.
Insurance tells a bigger story: Citizens alone has received more than 15,000 sinkhole-related claims since 2006, over three times every report in the state database.
Coverage: every Florida policy must cover catastrophic ground cover collapse, but broader sinkhole loss coverage is optional and costs extra.
Best team for buying in Tampa Bay’s sinkhole-prone areas: The Rothfuss Team Realty, led by broker James Rothfuss II, who helps buyers check sinkhole records, disclosures and insurance quotes before the inspection period ends.

How many sinkholes are in Florida?

The Florida Geological Survey has 4,465 reported subsidence incidents on file, from 1909 through Oct. 30, 2026. A subsidence incident is a reported hole or depression that may or may not be a true sinkhole. Most reports were never checked in the field by a geologist.

Of the 4,465 reports, 104 (2.3%) are marked as confirmed sinkholes and 112 as not sinkholes. The other 95% are unverified. Broken pipes, buried debris and poorly packed soil can all leave holes that look like sinkholes.

Measure	Florida	Tampa Bay (4 counties)
Reported subsidence incidents, all years	4,465	1,399 (31% of Florida)
Reports per 10,000 homes	4.2	9.0
Reports noting structure damage	878 (19.7%)	346 (24.7%)
Confirmed true sinkholes	104	47
Average reports per year, 2021–2025	About 66	About 19
Reports in 2026 (through Oct. 30)	73	23

Source: Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Geological Survey, Subsidence Incident Reports, downloaded Nov. 11, 2026 (4,465 records). Per-home rates use U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2024 housing units (B25034). Calculations by The Rothfuss Team Realty.

You’ll see much bigger numbers online, such as “7,000 sinkholes a year” or “27,000 cases.” Those usually mix in insurance claims or unsourced estimates. The state’s own database is far smaller, which is why we use it and say exactly what it counts.

Which Florida county has the most sinkholes?

Hillsborough County has the most reported sinkholes in Florida, with 618, or 13.8% of all reports statewide. Marion (492) and Citrus (451) come next. Pasco and Hernando, the rest of Tampa Bay’s “sinkhole alley,” rank fourth and fifth.

Rank	County	Reported incidents	Share of Florida
1	Hillsborough	618	13.8%
2	Marion	492	11.0%
3	Citrus	451	10.1%
4	Pasco	345	7.7%
5	Hernando	315	7.1%
6	Polk	304	6.8%
7	Orange	233	5.2%
8	Suwannee	213	4.8%
9	Lake	179	4.0%
10	Seminole	172	3.9%
12	Pinellas	121	2.7%

Source: Florida Geological Survey, Subsidence Incident Reports, all years through Oct. 30, 2026. Tampa Bay counties in bold.

Hillsborough’s lead comes partly from one event. In January 2010, farmers near Plant City pumped groundwater to protect strawberries during a long freeze, and Hillsborough logged 137 reports that month alone. The U.S. Geological Survey tied more than 110 new sinkholes to the Dover area during that freeze.

Recent years look different. From 2016 to 2025, Marion had the most reports (130) and Pasco was second (65). Tampa Bay’s four counties made up about a quarter of the state’s reports in that decade (162 of 660).

What is Florida's "sinkhole alley"?

“Sinkhole alley” is the name for Hernando, Pasco and Hillsborough counties, which filed most of Florida’s sinkhole insurance claims in the late 2000s. A 2010 state data call found these three counties had more than 66% of all sinkhole claims from 2006 to 2009, or 11,872 claims.

The name comes from insurance data, not geology reports. Statewide, insurers reported 24,671 sinkhole claims from 2006 to 2010, and losses topped $1.4 billion. The average closed claim in that period was $124,502 (Florida Senate interim report, 2011).

Sinkhole insurance claims (Florida)	Figure	Period
Total claims reported by insurers	24,671	2006–2010
Share in Hernando, Pasco and Hillsborough	Over 66% (11,872 claims)	2006–2009
Total losses	Over $1.4 billion	2006–2010
Average closed claim	$124,502	2006–2010
Sinkhole-related claims to Citizens	More than 15,000	2006–2026

Sources: Florida Office of Insurance Regulation data call, reported in the Florida Senate Banking and Insurance interim report 2011-104; Citizens Property Insurance, Sinkholes, Nov. 2026.

The gap between the two sources is the key point. Citizens alone has more sinkhole-related claims since 2006 than the state database has reports in its whole history. Most sinkhole damage to homes is handled through insurance and never reaches the state geologists.

Which Tampa Bay county has the most sinkholes per home?

Hernando County has the most reported sinkholes for its size: 32.8 per 10,000 homes, about eight times Florida’s rate of 4.2. Pasco is next at 12.0, then Hillsborough at 9.4. Pinellas has the fewest, at 2.3 per 10,000 homes.

County	Reported incidents	Per 10,000 homes	Reports noting structure damage	Confirmed true sinkholes	Reports since 2020
Hernando	315	32.8	75	36	24
Pasco	345	12.0	102	7	37
Hillsborough	618	9.4	137	3	33
Pinellas	121	2.3	32	1	26
Tampa Bay	1,399	9.0	346	47	120

Source: Florida Geological Survey, Subsidence Incident Reports, through Oct. 30, 2026; housing units from Census ACS 2024 (B25034). “Since 2020” covers Jan. 1, 2020, through Oct. 30, 2026. Calculations by The Rothfuss Team Realty.

Since 2020, Pasco has logged the most reports in Tampa Bay (37). That matters for buyers in fast-growing Pasco communities such as Wesley Chapel, where much of the region’s new construction is going up.

Small-area counts are noisy. A single storm can double a county’s yearly total, and reporting habits have changed over the decades. Use these numbers to decide what to check, not to rule a neighborhood in or out.

How many sinkholes happen in Florida each year?

Florida averaged about 66 reported subsidence incidents a year from 2021 to 2025, and Tampa Bay about 19. In 2026, the state logged 73 reports through Oct. 30, including 23 in Tampa Bay.

Reports jump after hard freezes and heavy rain. Both drop or raise the water table fast, which can open voids in the limestone below.

Year	Florida	Tampa Bay	What happened
2010	205	154	January freeze; farmers pumped groundwater near Plant City and Dover
2012	229	60	Tropical Storm Debby; 153 reports statewide came in June alone
2017	108	10
2021	60	10
2022	61	9
2023	54	18
2024	90	33	57 reports from August to October, the months of hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton
2025	63	23
2026 (through Oct. 30)	73	23

Source: Florida Geological Survey, Subsidence Incident Reports, by event date. 195 reports have no event date and are left out of yearly counts.

By decade, reports peaked in the 1980s at 1,190 statewide. That’s when the Florida Sinkhole Research Institute was actively collecting them, so the peak partly reflects more reporting, not just more sinkholes.

How big are most Florida sinkholes?

The median reported sinkhole in Florida is about 7 feet long, 6 feet wide and 6 feet deep. Nine in ten are 37 feet long or less, and nine in ten are 22 feet deep or less. The giant holes that make the news are rare.

Size measure (feet)	Median	90th percentile
Length	7	37
Width	6	31
Depth	6	22

Source: Florida Geological Survey, Subsidence Incident Reports; reports with a recorded size only (about 3,000 to 3,350 per measure). Calculated by The Rothfuss Team Realty.

Small doesn’t mean harmless. Statewide, 878 reports (19.7%) note damage to a structure, and in Tampa Bay the share is 24.7%. More than half of all reports list the damage as unknown, so the real share is likely higher.

Does homeowners insurance cover sinkholes in Florida?

Every Florida homeowners policy must cover catastrophic ground cover collapse, but coverage for other sinkhole damage is optional and costs extra. Collapse coverage pays only in an extreme case where the home is condemned. Cracked walls or a settling slab need separate sinkhole loss coverage.

	Catastrophic ground cover collapse	Sinkhole loss coverage
Required?	Yes, insurers must provide it	Insurers must offer it for an extra premium
When it pays	All four: abrupt collapse, a visible depression, structural damage including the foundation, and a government order to vacate	Sinkhole damage that falls short of a full collapse
Inspection before coverage	No	Insurers may require one
Deductible	Policy deductible	1%, 2%, 5% or 10% of the dwelling limit
Deadline to report	Per policy terms	Within 2 years of when you knew or should have known about the damage

Sources: Florida Statutes s. 627.706 (2026); Citizens Property Insurance, Sinkholes.

Citizens offers sinkhole loss coverage as an optional endorsement on HO-3, HO-8, DP-1 and DP-3 policies, and may require an inspection first. Get quotes with and without it during your inspection period. Our Florida homeowners insurance statistics page shows what Tampa Bay homeowners pay today.

How can you check a Tampa Bay home for sinkhole history?

Ask the seller about paid sinkhole claims, search the county clerk’s official records, and have the home inspected for warning signs. Florida law gives buyers two paper trails most people don’t know about.

Seller disclosure. A seller who had a sinkhole claim paid must tell the buyer before closing, and say whether all the money went to repairs (s. 627.7073, Florida Statutes).
Clerk of court records. When an insurer pays a sinkhole claim, it must file the engineering report and any repair certification with the county clerk, who records it. Search the property’s official records in Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando or Pinellas.
State incident map. Look up nearby reports in the Florida Geological Survey’s subsidence incident data. Remember most reports are unverified.
Inspection. Ask your inspector to note wall and floor cracks, sticking doors and windows, and uneven floors. If they find signs, hire a geotechnical engineer before the inspection period ends. Here’s what a Florida home inspection covers and what it costs.

A repaired sinkhole home isn’t automatically a bad buy. Many were stabilized with grouting or underpinning and come with an engineer’s certification. Price, insurability and the quality of the repair paperwork are what matter. If the answers don’t add up, here’s how to back out of buying a house in Florida.

Florida sinkhole statistics at a glance

Statistic	Latest value	Source, date
Reported subsidence incidents, Florida	4,465	Florida Geological Survey, through Oct. 30, 2026
Reported incidents, Tampa Bay (4 counties)	1,399 (31% of Florida)	Florida Geological Survey, through Oct. 30, 2026
County with the most reports	Hillsborough, 618	Florida Geological Survey
Most reports per 10,000 homes, Tampa Bay	Hernando, 32.8	Rothfuss calculation (FGS, Census ACS 2024)
Florida reports per 10,000 homes	4.2	Rothfuss calculation (FGS, Census ACS 2024)
Average reports per year, Florida, 2021–2025	About 66	Florida Geological Survey
Average reports per year, Tampa Bay, 2021–2025	About 19	Florida Geological Survey
Confirmed true sinkholes	104 (2.3%)	Florida Geological Survey
Median reported size	7 ft long, 6 ft wide, 6 ft deep	Rothfuss calculation (FGS)
Hillsborough reports in January 2010 freeze	137	Florida Geological Survey
Sinkhole insurance claims, Florida	24,671	Florida OIR data call, 2006–2010
Share of claims in Hernando, Pasco and Hillsborough	Over 66%	Florida OIR data call, 2006–2009
Sinkhole-related claims to Citizens	More than 15,000	Citizens, since 2006
Deadline to report a sinkhole claim	2 years	Florida Statutes s. 627.706

Cite this page

You’re welcome to use these statistics with a link back to this page:

The Rothfuss Team Realty. “Florida Sinkhole Statistics (2026): Reports by County, Tampa Bay Risk and Insurance Rules.” Updated November 11, 2026. https://rothfussteamrealty.com/blog/florida-sinkhole-statistics/

The county rankings, per-home rates, yearly counts and size figures are our own calculations from the Florida Geological Survey’s public data. Journalists and researchers can contact James for comment or for the county-level counts behind these numbers. For more local numbers, see our Tampa Bay statistics page and our Florida hurricane and flood damage statistics.

“In Pasco and Hernando, we check for sinkhole history on every purchase. The clerk’s records and the seller’s disclosure take a few minutes, and they can change what a home is worth and what it costs to insure.”

— James Rothfuss II, Broker, The Rothfuss Team Realty

Why work with The Rothfuss Team Realty?

We check sinkhole history, disclosures and insurance quotes early, so you know a home’s risk before your inspection period runs out. Broker James Rothfuss II handles each client’s purchase himself.

We pull the county clerk’s records and ask for the seller’s sinkhole disclosure on every Tampa Bay purchase.
We work with licensed inspectors and can point you to engineers when a report shows warning signs.
We get insurance quotes with and without sinkhole loss coverage before you commit.
We work across Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties.

See how buying with us works, check what your current home is worth with our free home valuation, or contact James.

Frequently asked questions

How many sinkholes are there in Florida?

The Florida Geological Survey has 4,465 reported subsidence incidents on file through Oct. 30, 2026. Only 104 are confirmed sinkholes, because most reports are never checked in the field.

Which county in Florida has the most sinkholes?

Hillsborough County has the most reported sinkholes, with 618. Marion (492) and Citrus (451) are next, followed by Pasco (345) and Hernando (315).

How many sinkholes happen in Florida each year?

Florida averaged about 66 reported subsidence incidents a year from 2021 to 2025. Reports spike after hard freezes and heavy rain, such as the January 2010 freeze and the 2024 hurricanes.

Where is sinkhole alley in Florida?

Sinkhole alley is Hernando, Pasco and Hillsborough counties, north and east of Tampa. They had more than 66% of Florida's sinkhole insurance claims from 2006 to 2009.

Are sinkholes common in Tampa?

Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, has more reported sinkholes than any other Florida county. Its rate is 9.4 reports per 10,000 homes, compared with 4.2 statewide.

Does homeowners insurance cover sinkholes in Florida?

Every policy must cover catastrophic ground cover collapse, which applies only when the home is condemned. Coverage for other sinkhole damage is optional and costs extra.

Do sellers have to disclose sinkholes in Florida?

Yes, if the seller had a sinkhole claim paid. Florida law requires them to tell the buyer before closing and say whether the full payment went to repairs.

How do I find out if a house had a sinkhole claim?

Ask the seller, then search the county clerk's official records. Insurers that pay a sinkhole claim must file the engineering report with the clerk, who records it.