Martin County, KY flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Martin County sits at the 71.2th 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 1.7 times a year. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Martin County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Martin 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, 17% of them do — 155 active policies against 912 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 5% of all residential structures in Martin County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Martin County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Martin County ranks 945 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2366 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 10,696 people live in Martin County, Kentucky, spread over 229.644 square miles.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Martin County
200 of Martin County's 4,041 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Martin 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.