Big Stone County, MN flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Big Stone County sits at the 13.6th national percentile, among the lowest flood hazard in the country; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about once every 2 years. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Big Stone County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Big Stone 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, 15.7% of them do — 27 active policies against 172 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1% of all residential structures in Big Stone County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Big Stone County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Big Stone County ranks 2744 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2814 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 5,067 people live in Big Stone County, Minnesota, spread over 499.129 square miles.
Checking a specific address in Big Stone County
30 of Big Stone County's 3,013 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Big Stone 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.