Bates County, MO: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Bates County scores at the 39.5th 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. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Bates County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Out of 97 homes FEMA counts inside Bates County's mapped flood zone, 5 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 5.2% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.1% of all residential structures in Bates County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Bates County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Bates County ranks 1964 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2011 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 16,394 people live in Bates County, Missouri, spread over 836.696 square miles.
Your street may differ from Bates County's average
9 of Bates County's 9,448 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Bates 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.