Laramie County, WY: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Laramie County scores at the 67th 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 2 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 Laramie 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, 18.5% of them do — 111 active policies against 599 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.6% of all residential structures in Laramie County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Laramie County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Laramie County ranks 1082 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 613 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 101,783 people live in Laramie County, Wyoming, spread over 2,685.864 square miles.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Laramie County
Across all of Laramie County's 39,722 residential structures, 217 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Laramie 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.