Adams County, OH: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Adams County scores at the 64.3th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Low" — below the national norm for flood hazard. The hazard here is driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 3 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Adams County's mapped high-risk flood zone (the Special Flood Hazard Area, or SFHA) are legally required to carry an NFIP flood policy. In practice, 6.4% of them do — 38 active policies against 590 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Adams County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Adams County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Adams County ranks 1173 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1513 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 27,671 people live in Adams County, Ohio, spread over 583.872 square miles.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Adams County
Across all of Adams County's 14,866 residential structures, 50 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Adams County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. If you're unsure why any of this insurance requirement exists at all, the SFHA explainer covers it from first principles.