Howard County, TX flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Howard County sits at the 45.4th 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 2.3 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Howard County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Out of 138 homes FEMA counts inside Howard County's mapped flood zone, 24 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 17.4% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.4% of all residential structures in Howard County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Howard County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Howard County ranks 1777 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1418 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Howard County, Texas covers 900.79 square miles and counts roughly 30,833 residents.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Howard County
47 of Howard County's 11,644 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Howard 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.