How much flood risk does Luzerne County actually carry?
Luzerne County lands at the 95.3th percentile of FEMA's National Risk Index for flooding, "Relatively High" territory — well above the national norm for flood hazard — with the hazard driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 2.5 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Luzerne County's flood-insurance compliance gap
52.7% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Luzerne County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 1,407 policies against 2,670 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Across all residential structures in Luzerne County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 3.3% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
Where Luzerne County ranks
Luzerne County sits at rank 162 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 224 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Luzerne County, Pennsylvania covers 889.807 square miles and counts roughly 331,379 residents.
Your street may differ from Luzerne County's average
Across all of Luzerne County's 118,414 residential structures, 3,881 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Luzerne County's numbers. The guide to what the Special Flood Hazard Area actually means explains why the mandatory-insurance rule exists and who it applies to.