Dakota County, MN: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Dakota County scores at the 88.7th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Moderate" — a middling flood hazard by national standards. 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 once every 1 years. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Dakota County
Out of 488 homes FEMA counts inside Dakota County's mapped flood zone, 32 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 6.6% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.1% of all residential structures in Dakota County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Dakota County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Dakota County ranks 371 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 164 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 453,156 people live in Dakota County, Minnesota, spread over 562.558 square miles.
Checking a specific address in Dakota County
Across all of Dakota County's 145,926 residential structures, 161 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Dakota 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.