Gates County, NC: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Gates County scores at the 40.8th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Very Low" — among the lowest flood hazard in the country. The hazard here is driven by coastal storm surge rather than inland rivers — FEMA's model puts a surge event here at about 3.6 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.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Gates County
Out of 190 homes FEMA counts inside Gates County's mapped flood zone, 38 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 20% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1.1% of all residential structures in Gates County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Gates County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Gates County ranks 1922 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2387 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Gates County, North Carolina is home to about 10,299 people across 340.612 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Gates County's average
FEMA counts 5,941 residential structures in Gates County overall, 68 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Gates County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. Gates County's coastal exposure is covered in the coastal vs. inland flood risk guide, including how storm surge risk differs from river flooding.