Chatham County, NC: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Chatham County scores at the 74.4th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Moderate" — a middling flood hazard by national standards. 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 1 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Chatham County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Out of 73 homes FEMA counts inside Chatham County's mapped flood zone, 33 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 45.2% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.7% of all residential structures in Chatham County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Chatham County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Chatham County ranks 840 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 699 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Chatham County, North Carolina is home to about 83,874 people across 681.474 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Chatham County
211 of Chatham County's 29,375 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Chatham 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.