Bremer County, IA flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Bremer County sits at the 33.4th 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 1.5 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.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Bremer County
17.8% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Bremer County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 49 policies against 276 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1.1% of all residential structures in Bremer County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Bremer County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Bremer County ranks 2152 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1612 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 25,328 people live in Bremer County, Iowa, spread over 435.479 square miles.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Bremer County
Across all of Bremer County's 9,816 residential structures, 107 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Bremer 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.