How much flood risk does Navajo County actually carry?
Navajo County lands at the 89.5th percentile of FEMA's National Risk Index for flooding, "Relatively Moderate" territory — a middling flood hazard by national standards — with the hazard driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 4.1 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Navajo County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Navajo 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, 14% of them do — 293 active policies against 2,098 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Navajo County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 0.6% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
How Navajo County compares nationally
Navajo County sits at rank 348 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 578 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Navajo County, Arizona is home to about 109,516 people across 9,949.496 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Navajo County
FEMA counts 55,334 residential structures in Navajo County overall, 328 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 Navajo 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.