Cochise County, AZ: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Cochise County scores at the 93.8th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively High" — well above 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 6.2 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Cochise County's flood-insurance compliance gap
11.2% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Cochise County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 613 policies against 5,493 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1.3% of all residential structures in Cochise County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Cochise County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Cochise County ranks 213 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 520 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Cochise County, Arizona is home to about 125,773 people across 6,209.872 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Cochise County
728 of Cochise County's 58,070 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Cochise 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.