Dale County, AL: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Dale County scores at the 61th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Low" — below 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 once every 2 years. 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
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Dale County's mapped high-risk flood zone (the Special Flood Hazard Area, or SFHA) are legally required to carry an NFIP flood policy. In practice, 26.2% of them do — 33 active policies against 126 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Dale County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Dale County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Dale County ranks 1283 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1009 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Dale County, Alabama is home to about 50,067 people across 561.113 square miles of land.
Checking a specific address in Dale County
67 of Dale County's 20,036 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Dale 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.