How much flood risk does Beadle County actually carry?
Beadle County lands at the 45.6th percentile of FEMA's National Risk Index for flooding, "Relatively Low" territory — below the national norm for flood hazard — with the hazard driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 2.5 times a year. 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 Beadle 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, 1.4% of them do — 2 active policies against 141 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Beadle County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 0.1% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
How Beadle County compares nationally
Beadle County sits at rank 1771 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 1861 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Beadle County, South Dakota is home to about 19,459 people across 1,258.698 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Beadle County's average
FEMA counts 10,561 residential structures in Beadle County overall, 8 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Beadle 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.