How much flood risk does Hinds County actually carry?
Hinds County lands at the 95.1th percentile of FEMA's National Risk Index for flooding, "Relatively High" territory — well above the national norm for flood hazard — with the hazard driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 4.5 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Hinds County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Hinds 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, 24.7% of them do — 1,912 active policies against 7,748 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Hinds County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 2.8% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
How Hinds County compares nationally
Hinds County sits at rank 167 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 335 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). About 211,975 people live in Hinds County, Mississippi, spread over 869.845 square miles.
Your street may differ from Hinds County's average
2,255 of Hinds County's 81,695 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Hinds County's numbers. The guide to what the Special Flood Hazard Area actually means explains why the mandatory-insurance rule exists and who it applies to.