Beaufort County, NC: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Beaufort County scores at the 82.2th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Moderate" — a middling flood hazard by national standards. The hazard here is driven by coastal storm surge rather than inland rivers — FEMA's model puts a surge event here at about 2.6 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
55.6% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Beaufort County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 2,098 policies against 3,774 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 13.5% of all residential structures in Beaufort County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Beaufort County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Beaufort County ranks 587 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1103 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 44,576 people live in Beaufort County, North Carolina, spread over 832.711 square miles.
Your street may differ from Beaufort County's average
Across all of Beaufort County's 21,664 residential structures, 2,915 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Beaufort County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. Beaufort County's coastal exposure is covered in the coastal vs. inland flood risk guide, including how storm surge risk differs from river flooding.