Is Houston County, TN in a flood zone?
FEMA's National Risk Index puts Houston County's flood hazard at the 14th percentile nationally — among the lowest flood hazard in the country — driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about once every 1 years. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Houston County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Houston 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, 10.3% of them do — 19 active policies against 185 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Houston County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 0.5% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
Where Houston County ranks
Houston County sits at rank 2735 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 2532 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Houston County, Tennessee covers 200.294 square miles and counts roughly 8,538 residents.
Checking a specific address in Houston County
Across all of Houston County's 4,226 residential structures, 20 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Houston 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.