Jones County, MS: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Jones County scores at the 71.5th 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 3.1 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Jones County's flood-insurance compliance gap
9.5% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Jones County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 124 policies against 1,304 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.8% 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.
Where Jones County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Jones County ranks 933 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 833 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 65,837 people live in Jones County, Mississippi, spread over 694.845 square miles.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Jones County
Across all of Jones County's 24,628 residential structures, 187 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
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.