Clare County, MI flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Clare County sits at the 50.1th national percentile, 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 once every 4 years. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
Out of 273 homes FEMA counts inside Clare County's mapped flood zone, 25 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 9.2% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.2% of all residential structures in Clare County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Clare County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Clare County ranks 1631 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1404 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 31,405 people live in Clare County, Michigan, spread over 564.367 square miles.
Your street may differ from Clare County's average
32 of Clare County's 17,278 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Clare 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.