Chisago County, MN: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Chisago County scores at the 55.7th 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 once every 6 years. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Chisago County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Chisago 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, 9.6% of them do — 25 active policies against 260 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.1% of all residential structures in Chisago County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Chisago County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Chisago County ranks 1455 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 901 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Chisago County, Minnesota is home to about 59,105 people across 414.903 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Chisago County's average
FEMA counts 26,229 residential structures in Chisago County overall, 37 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Chisago 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.