DeKalb County, TN flood risk explained
Flood hazard in DeKalb County sits at the 34.5th national percentile, among the lowest flood hazard in the country; 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. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
DeKalb County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside DeKalb 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, 13% of them do — 26 active policies against 200 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% 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.
How DeKalb County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, DeKalb County ranks 2119 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1733 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 21,747 people live in DeKalb County, Tennessee, spread over 304.432 square miles.
Checking a specific address in DeKalb County
33 of DeKalb County's 9,826 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
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.