Is Marlboro County, SC in a flood zone?
FEMA's National Risk Index puts Marlboro County's flood hazard at the 41th percentile nationally — 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 4 years. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Marlboro County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Marlboro 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, 4.8% of them do — 13 active policies against 270 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Marlboro County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 0.4% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
How Marlboro County compares nationally
Marlboro County sits at rank 1914 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 1606 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Marlboro County, South Carolina is home to about 25,498 people across 479.874 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Marlboro County's average
FEMA counts 8,627 residential structures in Marlboro County overall, 30 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Marlboro 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.