Bedford County, PA flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Bedford County sits at the 84th national percentile, a middling flood hazard by national standards; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 1.6 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Bedford County
11.7% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Bedford County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 205 policies against 1,751 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.9% of all residential structures in Bedford County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Bedford County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Bedford County ranks 528 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1041 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 47,643 people live in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, spread over 1,011.99 square miles.
Your street may differ from Bedford County's average
Across all of Bedford County's 25,734 residential structures, 235 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Bedford 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.