How much flood risk does Caroline County actually carry?
Caroline County lands at the 53.4th percentile of FEMA's National Risk Index for flooding, "Relatively Low" territory — below the national norm for flood hazard — with the hazard driven by coastal storm surge rather than inland rivers — FEMA's model puts a surge event here at about 3.7 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 Caroline County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Caroline 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, 37.7% of them do — 116 active policies against 308 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Caroline County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 1.1% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
Caroline County against the rest of the country
Caroline County sits at rank 1527 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 1327 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Caroline County, Maryland is home to about 34,248 people across 319.442 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Caroline County's average
158 of Caroline County's 14,046 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 Caroline County's numbers. Because storm surge plays a real role here, the guide to coastal vs. inland flood hazard is worth reading alongside this page.