Clark County, WA flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Clark County sits at the 92.6th national percentile, a middling flood hazard by national standards; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about once every 3 years. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Clark County's flood-insurance compliance gap
28.5% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Clark County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 329 policies against 1,154 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.4% of all residential structures in Clark County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Clark County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Clark County ranks 248 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 140 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Clark County, Washington is home to about 527,269 people across 628.509 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Clark County
608 of Clark County's 159,508 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Clark 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.