Is Forest County, PA in a flood zone?
FEMA's National Risk Index puts Forest County's flood hazard at the 43.5th percentile nationally — below the national norm for flood hazard — 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. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Forest County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Forest 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, 3.5% of them do — 12 active policies against 347 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Forest County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 0.3% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
How Forest County compares nationally
Forest County sits at rank 1838 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 2692 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Forest County, Pennsylvania is home to about 6,601 people across 427.259 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Forest County
18 of Forest County's 6,343 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Forest County's numbers. The guide to what the Special Flood Hazard Area actually means explains why the mandatory-insurance rule exists and who it applies to.