Charlevoix County, MI flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Charlevoix County sits at the 32.3th national percentile, among the lowest flood hazard in the country; split between inland river flooding (about once every 7 years) and coastal storm surge (about once every 75 years). County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Charlevoix County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Charlevoix 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, 13% of them do — 18 active policies against 138 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.2% of all residential structures in Charlevoix County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Charlevoix County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Charlevoix County ranks 2189 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1573 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Charlevoix County, Michigan is home to about 26,105 people across 416.33 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Charlevoix County's average
FEMA counts 16,397 residential structures in Charlevoix County overall, 40 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Charlevoix County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. Charlevoix County's coastal exposure is covered in the coastal vs. inland flood risk guide, including how storm surge risk differs from river flooding.