How much flood risk does Chariton County actually carry?
Chariton County lands at the 44.1th percentile of FEMA's National Risk Index for flooding, "Relatively Low" territory — below the national norm for flood hazard — with the hazard driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 3.8 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 Chariton County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Chariton 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, 5.4% of them do — 19 active policies against 355 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Chariton County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 0.4% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
Chariton County against the rest of the country
Chariton County sits at rank 1819 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 2626 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). About 7,397 people live in Chariton County, Missouri, spread over 751.178 square miles.
Checking a specific address in Chariton County
Across all of Chariton County's 6,031 residential structures, 22 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Chariton 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.