Bartow County, GA: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Bartow County scores at the 67.8th 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 once every 1 years. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Bartow County's flood-insurance compliance gap
30.2% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Bartow County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 131 policies against 434 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.5% of all residential structures in Bartow County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Bartow County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Bartow County ranks 1055 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 543 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Bartow County, Georgia is home to about 117,508 people across 458.912 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Bartow County
179 of Bartow County's 38,101 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Bartow 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.