Douglas County, WI: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Douglas County scores at the 61.5th 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
Out of 275 homes FEMA counts inside Douglas County's mapped flood zone, 37 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 13.5% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Douglas County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Douglas County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Douglas County ranks 1264 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1109 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Douglas County, Wisconsin is home to about 44,276 people across 1,304.272 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Douglas County's average
FEMA counts 19,674 residential structures in Douglas County overall, 63 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Douglas 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.