Bristol County, MA flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Bristol County sits at the 93.6th national percentile, well above the national norm for flood hazard; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 3.3 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 Bristol County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Bristol 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, 55.6% of them do — 2,116 active policies against 3,805 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1.9% of all residential structures in Bristol County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Bristol County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Bristol County ranks 217 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 119 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Bristol County, Massachusetts is home to about 588,593 people across 553.118 square miles of land.
Checking a specific address in Bristol County
FEMA counts 133,589 residential structures in Bristol County overall, 2,598 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Bristol 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.