Archuleta County, CO flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Archuleta County sits at the 51.7th national percentile, below the national norm for flood hazard; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about once every 3 years. 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 Archuleta 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, 28.2% of them do — 61 active policies against 216 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.9% of all residential structures in Archuleta County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Archuleta County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Archuleta County ranks 1585 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2156 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Archuleta County, Colorado covers 1,350.089 square miles and counts roughly 14,112 residents.
Your street may differ from Archuleta County's average
77 of Archuleta County's 8,622 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Archuleta 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.