Jefferson County, WV: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Jefferson County scores at the 64.2th 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 1.9 times a year. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Jefferson 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, 23.7% of them do — 110 active policies against 465 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.8% 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.
Jefferson County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Jefferson County ranks 1177 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 881 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Jefferson County, West Virginia is home to about 61,264 people across 209.289 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Jefferson County's average
163 of Jefferson County's 19,441 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
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.