How much flood risk does Clay County actually carry?
Clay County lands at the 38.9th percentile of FEMA's National Risk Index for flooding, "Relatively Low" territory — below the national norm for flood hazard — with the hazard driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 2 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
Clay County is one of the counties where FEMA's own denominator for mandated flood-zone structures is missing, so no compliance rate is shown rather than a guessed one — the data quality guide covers how common this is. Across all residential structures in Clay County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 0.1% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
Where Clay County ranks
Clay County sits at rank 1985 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 2231 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Clay County, Illinois covers 468.351 square miles and counts roughly 12,821 residents.
Your street may differ from Clay County's average
FEMA counts 10,469 residential structures in Clay County overall, 8 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Clay County's numbers. See the data quality guide for why Clay County, like hundreds of other counties, doesn't get a clean compliance percentage.