Hughes County, SD flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Hughes County sits at the 32.6th national percentile, 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 1.1 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 Hughes County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Hughes 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, 13.6% of them do — 22 active policies against 162 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.5% of all residential structures in Hughes County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Hughes County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Hughes County ranks 2179 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1955 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Hughes County, South Dakota is home to about 17,526 people across 741.527 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Hughes County's average
33 of Hughes County's 7,303 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Hughes 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.