How much flood risk does Mason County actually carry?
Mason County lands at the 56.2th percentile of FEMA's National Risk Index for flooding, "Relatively Low" territory — below the national norm for flood hazard — with the 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.
Mason County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Mason 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, 5.3% of them do — 8 active policies against 152 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Mason County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 0.1% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
Where Mason County ranks
Mason County sits at rank 1441 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 1979 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Mason County, Kentucky covers 240.127 square miles and counts roughly 16,956 residents.
Your street may differ from Mason County's average
13 of Mason County's 9,328 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Mason 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.