Forest County, WI Flood Zone & Flood Risk Data
Forest County, WI: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Forest County scores at the 20.7th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Very Low", among the lowest flood hazard in the country. 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 7 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 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, 5.5% of them do, 9 active policies against 164 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.1% of all residential structures in Forest County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise, relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Forest County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Forest County ranks 2534, 1 being the highest hazard nationally, and 2450 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 9,506 people live in Forest County, Wisconsin, spread over 1,014.265 square miles.
Checking a specific address in Forest County
10 of Forest County's 7,495 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count, useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Forest 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.