DeKalb County, GA: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, DeKalb County scores at the 96.2th 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 1.9 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in DeKalb County
72.4% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in DeKalb County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 1,396 policies against 1,927 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1.1% of all residential structures in DeKalb County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
DeKalb County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, DeKalb County ranks 128 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 86 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 770,307 people live in DeKalb County, Georgia, spread over 267.665 square miles.
Your street may differ from DeKalb County's average
FEMA counts 220,247 residential structures in DeKalb County overall, 2,331 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where DeKalb 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.