Franklin County, KS: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Franklin County scores at the 48th 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 1.6 times a year. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Franklin 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, 12.9% of them do — 22 active policies against 171 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Franklin County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Franklin County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Franklin County ranks 1699 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1565 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Franklin County, Kansas is home to about 26,273 people across 571.772 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Franklin County's average
FEMA counts 10,622 residential structures in Franklin County overall, 29 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Franklin 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.