Marion County, AL flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Marion County sits at the 64th national percentile, below the national norm for flood hazard; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about once every 1 years. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
Out of 165 homes FEMA counts inside Marion County's mapped flood zone, 13 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 7.9% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.2% of all residential structures in Marion County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Marion County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Marion County ranks 1183 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1461 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Marion County, Alabama is home to about 29,323 people across 742.342 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Marion County
Across all of Marion County's 12,946 residential structures, 22 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Marion 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.