Across the United States, the ground is quietly moving — some places rising, many slowly sinking, and a few sinking fast. This is not a model or a projection. Every number below is measured from space, by NASA's Sentinel-1 radar satellites, at a 30-meter grid, tracked year over year since 2016.
The fastest ground subsidence SibFly has measured is in Tulare, CA — -154.7 mm per year, roughly 1.4 m (4.6 ft) of sinking since 2016.
That is the American West's groundwater story written into the land itself: as aquifers are pumped faster than they refill, the ground compacts and drops. The San Joaquin Valley is the clearest example on Earth.
| Location | Rate | Since 2016 | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tulare, CA | -154.7 mm/yr | 1.4 m (4.6 ft) of sinking | Rapid subsidence |
| 2 | Corcoran (San Joaquin Valley), CA | -132.5 mm/yr | 1.2 m (3.9 ft) of sinking | Rapid subsidence |
| 3 | El Nido, CA | -50.8 mm/yr | 46 cm (18.2 in) of sinking | Rapid subsidence |
| 4 | Mendota, CA | -13.3 mm/yr | 12 cm (4.8 in) of sinking | Rapid subsidence |
| 5 | Huron, CA | -12.8 mm/yr | 12 cm (4.5 in) of sinking | Rapid subsidence |
| 6 | Jersey Village (Houston), TX | -10.9 mm/yr | 95 mm (3.7 in) of sinking | Rapid subsidence |
| 7 | Bakersfield, CA | -8.8 mm/yr | 80 mm (3.1 in) of sinking | Rapid subsidence |
| 8 | Lancaster, CA | -7.0 mm/yr | 64 mm (2.5 in) of sinking | Notable subsidence |
| 9 | Las Vegas, NV | -4.5 mm/yr | 40 mm (1.6 in) of sinking | Notable subsidence |
| 10 | New Orleans, LA | -2.1 mm/yr | 18 mm (0.7 in) of sinking | Direction unclear |
| 11 | Phoenix, AZ | +0.0 mm/yr | — | Direction unclear |
Negative = sinking, positive = rising. Rates are the measured vertical trend at that spot with a stated uncertainty; a few fast-sinking Central Valley sites are still on a relative (un-GPS-tied) datum, so treat the exact magnitude as a strong screening signal, not a survey.
Most US subsidence comes from groundwater withdrawal — pumping water from underground faster than it recharges, so the sediment compacts and the surface drops (California's Central Valley, Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas). Along the coasts, young sediment naturally compacts and, combined with sea-level rise, magnifies flood risk (New Orleans, the Gulf, the mid-Atlantic). Oil and gas extraction and drained organic soils add to it in places. Because what damages buildings is uneven movement between nearby points, a single rate is a screening signal — a prompt to look closer, not a verdict.
Insurance and risk products usually give you a modeled subsidence score. SibFly gives you the measured movement — the actual displacement the satellite recorded at that spot. It comes from NASA OPERA DISP-S1 (processed Copernicus Sentinel-1 InSAR); SibFly reads it at the address you ask about, fits the multi-year trend, and returns millimeters per year with an uncertainty range. It is a screening estimate from space, not an engineering or survey-grade determination.
See all covered US metros → · Is my house sinking? · developers & AI agents: the API returns the same data ($0.40 per covered report, misses free).
Data: NASA OPERA DISP-S1 (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data). Screening estimate from satellite radar at 30 m resolution — not for engineering, underwriting, or legal decisions. © SIB Scientific.