Houston County, MN Flood Zone & Flood Risk Data
Houston County, MN flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Houston County sits at the 46th national percentile, below the national norm for flood hazard; 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. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one, FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Houston County
8.7% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Houston County, those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area, actually have a policy in force: 24 policies against 277 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Houston County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise, relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Houston County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Houston County ranks 1759, 1 being the highest hazard nationally, and 1913 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 18,352 people live in Houston County, Minnesota, spread over 552.115 square miles.
Checking a specific address in Houston County
38 of Houston County's 11,099 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count, useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Houston 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.