Knox County, OH: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Knox County scores at the 72th 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 once every 1 years. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Knox County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Knox 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, 10.9% of them do — 100 active policies against 919 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.5% of all residential structures in Knox County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Knox County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Knox County ranks 918 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 855 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 63,848 people live in Knox County, Ohio, spread over 525.499 square miles.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Knox County
118 of Knox County's 25,313 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Knox 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.