Marshall County, MN: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Marshall County scores at the 29.2th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Very Low" — among the lowest flood hazard in the country. 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 1.4 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Marshall County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Marshall 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, 8% of them do — 20 active policies against 251 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.5% of all residential structures in Marshall County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Marshall County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Marshall County ranks 2282 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2508 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Marshall County, Minnesota is home to about 8,771 people across 1,775.06 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Marshall County
23 of Marshall County's 4,708 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Marshall 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.