Grant County, NM: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Grant County scores at the 83.7th 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 2 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Grant County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Grant 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, 4.2% of them do — 29 active policies against 685 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Grant County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Grant County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Grant County ranks 536 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1522 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Grant County, New Mexico is home to about 27,541 people across 3,961.207 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Grant County
FEMA counts 16,511 residential structures in Grant County overall, 42 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Grant 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.