Hays County, TX flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Hays County sits at the 93.2th national percentile, a middling flood hazard by national standards; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 3.8 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 2,033 homes FEMA counts inside Hays County's mapped flood zone, 894 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 44% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 2.3% of all residential structures in Hays County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Hays County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Hays County ranks 229 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 251 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Hays County, Texas covers 676.863 square miles and counts roughly 292,029 residents.
Your street may differ from Hays County's average
FEMA counts 70,415 residential structures in Hays County overall, 1,620 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Hays 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.