Lafayette County, WI: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Lafayette County scores at the 27.3th 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 1.3 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.
Lafayette County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Lafayette 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, 22.2% of them do — 18 active policies against 81 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Lafayette County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Lafayette County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Lafayette County ranks 2334 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1961 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Lafayette County, Wisconsin covers 633.588 square miles and counts roughly 17,306 residents.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Lafayette County
FEMA counts 5,982 residential structures in Lafayette County overall, 19 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Lafayette 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.