Mapped: The U.S. Cities at Risk of Sinking

Visual Capitalist ^ | 2/20/26 | Julia Wendling

[Duke C.]

Across the United States, the ground beneath many major cities is gradually subsiding. Research published in Nature Cities shows that 25 of the 28 largest U.S. urban areas are sinking, a trend with serious implications for infrastructure durability, flood risk, and long-term resilience.

[Track9]

Sinking in debt and deadbeats is their real future.

[JimRed]

So much for the rising ocean fraud.

[poinq]

So Chicago will sink about an inch this century. I don’t think we need to worry about this. I own a home in Chicago that is 130 years old. The foundation is fine. No cracks. The brick street in front of me looks great. Its over a hundred years old. No flooding. Mostly because of good water management and the fact that we live on a great lake which gives us a quadrillion gallons of potable water that is constantly replenished. We don’t use water from the ground. We don’t pull oil or coal from the ground. If anything we had add with land fills,

[Seruzawa]

A bunch of the old oil pumps in that area and up around signal hill pump water in now. Up and down, up and down, up and down.....

[Jane Long]

Ha! I KNEW Houston had to be at the top of the list ... they’re #1!!

Followed by #2 Ft Worth and #3 Dallas!

[Glad2bnuts]

In an everchanging planet, there have been many changes, upheavals. Since when was it supposed to remain static?

[dfwgator]

Ha! I KNEW Houston had to be at the top of the list ... they’re #1!!



"They're Number One In The Nation!" - Dandy Don Meredith

[PROCON]

So "The Day After Tomorrow" was a documentary?

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

I am looking forwardsto the day that Denver is called “Almost Mile High City”. LOL

[Salamander]

I’m still 1600’ feet up.
Um gud.

😜

[Ikeon]

Deadwood south Dakota has sunk more than 5 feet in 100 years
.. or its just buried under 100 years of Sky fall dirt and ash.... look it up!! Street level today 5 feet higher. Saloon windows from the 1800’ are in wells street side.

[AZJeep]

Mexico City is singing in the rate up to 500 mm/year!
About 100x more than Houston!
It does create some problems there, but it still functions!

Just another way to scare gullible people!

[Allegra]

Ha! I KNEW Houston had to be at the top of the list ... they’re #1!!

Hurricane Harvey in 2017 sure didn’t help. 😏

[Signalman]

It’s it blue cities, I’m all for it.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

The ground can only take so much weight.

Especially when you are pumping water out of it.

[rexthecat]

It can happen. Long Beach Naval Shipyard sunk after they pumped tons of oil out of it. They actually had to modify the drydocks because the island went below sea level.

You're right. And Long Beach finally slowed the sinking down by pumping water back into the space left after the oil was removed.

[Jane Long]

Houston: #1 SWAMP

[Jeff Chandler]

Perfect!

[Jeff Chandler]

Pascal’s Principle

Is Pascal a high school or an elementary school?

[LizzieD]

But somehow Miami is not on the list. Guess that’s why all the billionaires are moving there!