Northampton County, PA: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Northampton County scores at the 93.6th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively High" — well above 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 3.3 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 Northampton County
38.5% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Northampton County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 433 policies against 1,124 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.6% of all residential structures in Northampton County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Northampton County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Northampton County ranks 219 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 229 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Northampton County, Pennsylvania covers 369.787 square miles and counts roughly 322,989 residents.
Your street may differ from Northampton County's average
FEMA counts 101,869 residential structures in Northampton County overall, 594 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Northampton 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.