Holmes County, OH: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Holmes County scores at the 71.2th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Low" — below the national norm for flood hazard. 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 1.3 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 Holmes County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Holmes 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, 13.7% of them do — 50 active policies against 364 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Holmes County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Holmes County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Holmes County ranks 943 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1101 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Holmes County, Ohio is home to about 44,668 people across 422.614 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Holmes County
61 of Holmes County's 18,490 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Holmes 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.