Brookings County, SD flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Brookings County sits at the 48.4th national percentile, below 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 2.8 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 Brookings County
Out of 710 homes FEMA counts inside Brookings County's mapped flood zone, 40 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 5.6% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.4% of all residential structures in Brookings County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Brookings County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Brookings County ranks 1684 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1287 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Brookings County, South Dakota covers 792.217 square miles and counts roughly 36,359 residents.
Your street may differ from Brookings County's average
FEMA counts 13,656 residential structures in Brookings County overall, 59 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Brookings 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.