Harford County, MD: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Harford County scores at the 78.4th 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 2.9 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
Out of 584 homes FEMA counts inside Harford County's mapped flood zone, 267 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 45.7% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.6% of all residential structures in Harford County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Harford County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Harford County ranks 707 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 276 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 265,514 people live in Harford County, Maryland, spread over 437.125 square miles.
Your street may differ from Harford County's average
Across all of Harford County's 92,510 residential structures, 534 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Harford 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.