How much flood risk does Caldwell County actually carry?
Caldwell County lands at the 87.1th percentile of FEMA's National Risk Index for flooding, "Relatively Moderate" territory — a middling flood hazard by national standards — with the hazard driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 2.6 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Caldwell County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Caldwell 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, 28.8% of them do — 176 active policies against 612 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Caldwell County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 1.4% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
How Caldwell County compares nationally
Caldwell County sits at rank 426 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 978 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Caldwell County, Texas is home to about 52,430 people across 544.543 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Caldwell County
231 of Caldwell County's 16,073 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Caldwell County's numbers. The guide to what the Special Flood Hazard Area actually means explains why the mandatory-insurance rule exists and who it applies to.