How much flood risk does Bath County actually carry?
Bath County lands at the 16.7th percentile of FEMA's National Risk Index for flooding, "Very Low" territory — among the lowest flood hazard in the country — with the hazard driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 1.1 times 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.
Bath County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Bath 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, 5.8% of them do — 10 active policies against 173 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Bath County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 0.7% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
Where Bath County ranks
Bath County sits at rank 2655 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 2877 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Bath County, Virginia is home to about 4,071 people across 529.202 square miles of land.
Checking a specific address in Bath County
20 of Bath County's 2,920 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Bath County's numbers. The guide to what the Special Flood Hazard Area actually means explains why the mandatory-insurance rule exists and who it applies to.