Jackson County, IA: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Jackson County scores at the 43.3th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Low" — below the national norm for flood hazard. The hazard here is driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 1.4 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
5.9% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Jackson County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 16 policies against 273 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.2% of all residential structures in Jackson County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Jackson County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Jackson County ranks 1845 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1864 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Jackson County, Iowa is home to about 19,390 people across 636.047 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Jackson County's average
Across all of Jackson County's 10,413 residential structures, 23 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Jackson 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.