Gaston County, NC: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Gaston County scores at the 88.5th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Moderate" — a middling flood hazard by national standards. 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 1 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 410 homes FEMA counts inside Gaston County's mapped flood zone, 188 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 45.9% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.4% of all residential structures in Gaston County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Gaston County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Gaston County ranks 380 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 299 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Gaston County, North Carolina is home to about 242,010 people across 355.751 square miles of land.
Checking a specific address in Gaston County
Across all of Gaston County's 85,407 residential structures, 313 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Gaston 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.