Nelson County, KY: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Nelson County scores at the 62.7th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Low" — below the national norm for flood hazard. 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 2.5 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Nelson County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Nelson 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, 17.9% of them do — 51 active policies against 285 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Nelson County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Nelson County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Nelson County ranks 1225 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1027 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Nelson County, Kentucky is home to about 48,706 people across 418.686 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Nelson County's average
59 of Nelson County's 20,751 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Nelson 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.