Madison County, KY: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Madison County scores at the 76th 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 1.9 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
28.6% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Madison County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 169 policies against 592 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.7% of all residential structures in Madison County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Madison County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Madison County ranks 789 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 624 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Madison County, Kentucky is home to about 99,582 people across 437.94 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Madison County's average
Across all of Madison County's 29,955 residential structures, 219 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Madison 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.