Montgomery County, TN: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Montgomery County scores at the 84.5th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Moderate" — a middling flood hazard by national standards. 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 1.6 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Montgomery County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Montgomery 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, 52.9% of them do — 73 active policies against 138 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.4% of all residential structures in Montgomery County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Montgomery County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Montgomery County ranks 510 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 296 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Montgomery County, Tennessee covers 539.169 square miles and counts roughly 246,025 residents.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Montgomery County
254 of Montgomery County's 66,178 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Montgomery 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.