Lyon County, MN: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Lyon County scores at the 57.2th 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 1.5 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Lyon County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Lyon 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, 11.1% of them do — 12 active policies against 108 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Lyon County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Lyon County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Lyon County ranks 1410 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1603 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 25,577 people live in Lyon County, Minnesota, spread over 714.411 square miles.
Checking a specific address in Lyon County
FEMA counts 9,473 residential structures in Lyon County overall, 29 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Lyon 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.