Burke County, GA flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Burke County sits at the 31.3th 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 3 years. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Burke 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, 10% of them do — 10 active policies against 100 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.1% of all residential structures in Burke County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Burke County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Burke County ranks 2218 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1636 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Burke County, Georgia covers 827.042 square miles and counts roughly 24,472 residents.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Burke County
Across all of Burke County's 11,366 residential structures, 14 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Burke 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.