Is Niagara County, NY in a flood zone?
FEMA's National Risk Index puts Niagara County's flood hazard at the 91th percentile nationally — a middling flood hazard by national standards — driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 1.3 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.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Niagara County
20.4% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Niagara County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 374 policies against 1,834 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Across all residential structures in Niagara 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.
Niagara County against the rest of the country
Niagara County sits at rank 304 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 341 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Niagara County, New York is home to about 209,570 people across 522.348 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Niagara County's average
Across all of Niagara County's 81,196 residential structures, 453 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Niagara 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.