How much flood risk does Colleton County actually carry?
Colleton County lands at the 78.2th percentile of FEMA's National Risk Index for flooding, "Relatively Moderate" territory — a middling flood hazard by national standards — with the hazard driven by coastal storm surge rather than inland rivers — FEMA's model puts a surge event here at about 3.6 times a year. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Colleton County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Out of 2,487 homes FEMA counts inside Colleton County's mapped flood zone, 1,458 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 58.6% compliance, short of full coverage. Across all residential structures in Colleton County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 8.1% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
Colleton County against the rest of the country
Colleton County sits at rank 715 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 1202 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Colleton County, South Carolina covers 1,056.509 square miles and counts roughly 39,259 residents.
Checking a specific address in Colleton County
Across all of Colleton County's 19,527 residential structures, 1,583 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Colleton County's numbers. Because storm surge plays a real role here, the guide to coastal vs. inland flood hazard is worth reading alongside this page.