Is Cherokee County, KS in a flood zone?
FEMA's National Risk Index puts Cherokee County's flood hazard at the 54.8th percentile nationally — below the national norm for flood hazard — driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 4.2 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 Cherokee County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Cherokee 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, 5.8% of them do — 35 active policies against 605 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Cherokee 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.
How Cherokee County compares nationally
Cherokee County sits at rank 1486 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 1874 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Cherokee County, Kansas is home to about 19,133 people across 587.567 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Cherokee County's average
38 of Cherokee County's 10,190 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 Cherokee 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.