Jefferson County, OH flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Jefferson County sits at the 81.6th national percentile, a middling flood hazard by national standards; 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
9.6% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Jefferson County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 118 policies against 1,224 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.5% of all residential structures in Jefferson County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Jefferson County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Jefferson County ranks 607 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 854 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Jefferson County, Ohio is home to about 63,900 people across 408.124 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Jefferson County
FEMA counts 28,262 residential structures in Jefferson County overall, 136 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Jefferson 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.