Clay County, FL flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Clay County sits at the 85.9th 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 2 years. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Clay County
Out of 3,451 homes FEMA counts inside Clay County's mapped flood zone, 1,673 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 48.5% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 5.1% of all residential structures in Clay County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Clay County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Clay County ranks 466 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 304 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Clay County, Florida covers 604.598 square miles and counts roughly 236,760 residents.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Clay County
FEMA counts 78,156 residential structures in Clay County overall, 4,005 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Clay 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.