How much flood risk does Garfield County actually carry?
Garfield County lands at the 67th percentile of FEMA's National Risk Index for flooding, "Relatively Low" territory — below the national norm for flood hazard — with the hazard driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 1 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 Garfield 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, 11.3% of them do — 78 active policies against 689 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Garfield County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 0.4% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
Garfield County against the rest of the country
Garfield County sits at rank 1083 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 872 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). About 62,007 people live in Garfield County, Oklahoma, spread over 1,058.507 square miles.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Garfield County
Across all of Garfield County's 25,501 residential structures, 99 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Garfield 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.