Jones County, GA: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Jones County scores at the 28th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Very Low" — among the lowest flood hazard in the country. 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 once every 2 years. 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 Jones 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 — 15 active policies against 110 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Jones County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Jones County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Jones County ranks 2314 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1470 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 29,047 people live in Jones County, Georgia, spread over 393.942 square miles.
Your street may differ from Jones County's average
30 of Jones County's 12,014 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Jones 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.