How much flood risk does Nicholas County actually carry?
Nicholas County lands at the 67th 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 1.2 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Nicholas County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Nicholas 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, 6.8% of them do — 48 active policies against 703 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Nicholas 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 Nicholas County compares nationally
Nicholas County sits at rank 1084 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 1648 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). About 24,017 people live in Nicholas County, West Virginia, spread over 646.842 square miles.
Checking a specific address in Nicholas County
61 of Nicholas County's 11,078 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 Nicholas 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.