Bates County, MO Flood Zone & Flood Risk Data
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 a year. 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.