Carter County, KY: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Carter County scores at the 69.4th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Low" — below 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 2.4 times a year. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Carter County
12.1% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Carter County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 109 policies against 902 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1.3% of all residential structures in Carter County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Carter County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Carter County ranks 1002 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1575 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Carter County, Kentucky is home to about 26,098 people across 409.497 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Carter County's average
FEMA counts 11,649 residential structures in Carter County overall, 147 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Carter 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.