Kent County, DE: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Kent County scores at the 82.9th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Moderate" — a middling flood hazard by national standards. 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
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Kent 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, 36% of them do — 507 active policies against 1,407 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1.3% of all residential structures in Kent County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Kent County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Kent County ranks 562 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 368 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Kent County, Delaware is home to about 192,690 people across 586.061 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Kent County's average
FEMA counts 64,902 residential structures in Kent County overall, 822 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Kent 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.