Lea County, NM: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Lea County scores at the 88.3th 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 2.4 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.
Lea County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Out of 2,870 homes FEMA counts inside Lea County's mapped flood zone, 692 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 24.1% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 2.8% of all residential structures in Lea County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Lea County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Lea County ranks 387 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 751 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 75,151 people live in Lea County, New Mexico, spread over 4,391.552 square miles.
Your street may differ from Lea County's average
715 of Lea County's 25,998 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Lea 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.