Bucks County, PA: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Bucks County scores at the 97.1th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively High" — well above the national norm for flood hazard. The hazard here is driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 4.4 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
Out of 3,468 homes FEMA counts inside Bucks County's mapped flood zone, 1,706 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 49.2% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1.3% of all residential structures in Bucks County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Bucks County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Bucks County ranks 101 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 110 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Bucks County, Pennsylvania covers 604.436 square miles and counts roughly 650,131 residents.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Bucks County
Across all of Bucks County's 212,765 residential structures, 2,658 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Bucks 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.