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.

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TOPICS: Miscellaneous
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[frank ballenger]

If all those Dem cities sank and sank and disappeared it would remove a lot of Dem voters and the costs of urban crime and police and court costs to oppose the thugs. States wouldn’t have to say “outstate votes went strongly for the GOP but the cities made it a night of smiles and victory for Spanberger, AG Jones and Mamdani.”

[frank ballenger]

We should have listened the Dem braintrust like him. /S

[frank ballenger]

Gif....

Actually that was a news clip of the aftermath of JB Pritzker doing a cannonball into the water.

[Seruzawa]

Of course it’s doesn’t. Environmentalists stupidly think they can hold life still.

[Lurker]

A lot of the terrain in the Chicago area is actually still rising after the glaciers melted.

L

[Crusher138]

In the worst case scenario, if this is correct (I have my reservations) Houston would drop about 2 feet over the next 100 years.

Houston is, on average, 50 feet above sea level. It would take about 2500 years for Houston to sink to sea level.

That is IF the sinking/compression is consistent AND constant. Two really big “ifs”.

[djstex]

Wow 3 top cities in TEXAS are sinkholes!
Crazy scary!!

Thanks Jane for the ping!

[PAR35]

Denver is sinking. Better snap up some future ocean front property there.

[Fireone]

Seattle? Seattle has a city beneath the city, is that one sinking too? Or, is the upper city sinking into the lower city? (I’m not a geologist, KJB)

[metmom]

That’s great.

[trebb]

Billions of tons of concrete will tend to weigh things down - especially on the coasts...