Hudson County, NJ flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Hudson County sits at the 98.6th national percentile, among the highest flood hazard in the country; split between inland river flooding (about 3 times a year) and coastal storm surge (about 3.8 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 Hudson County
18% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Hudson County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 2,369 policies against 13,150 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 3.5% of all residential structures in Hudson County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Hudson County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Hudson County ranks 51 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 93 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Hudson County, New Jersey is home to about 736,185 people across 46.193 square miles of land.
Checking a specific address in Hudson County
Across all of Hudson County's 85,704 residential structures, 2,990 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Hudson County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. Hudson County's coastal exposure is covered in the coastal vs. inland flood risk guide, including how storm surge risk differs from river flooding.