Hancock County, MS: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Hancock County scores at the 86.2th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively High" — well above the national norm for flood hazard. The hazard here is driven by coastal storm surge rather than inland rivers — FEMA's model puts a surge event here at about 6.1 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Hancock County's flood-insurance compliance gap
63.8% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Hancock County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 4,965 policies against 7,785 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 33.1% of all residential structures in Hancock County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Hancock County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Hancock County ranks 459 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1060 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Hancock County, Mississippi is home to about 46,492 people across 473.966 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Hancock County's average
FEMA counts 20,309 residential structures in Hancock County overall, 6,730 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Hancock County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. Hancock County's coastal exposure is covered in the coastal vs. inland flood risk guide, including how storm surge risk differs from river flooding.