Northampton County, VA flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Northampton County sits at the 57.2th national percentile, below the national norm for flood hazard; driven by coastal storm surge rather than inland rivers — FEMA's model puts a surge event here at about 3.7 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Northampton County's flood-insurance compliance gap
42.7% 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: 73 policies against 171 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 5.1% 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.
Where Northampton County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Northampton County ranks 1411 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2281 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 12,004 people live in Northampton County, Virginia, spread over 211.715 square miles.
Checking a specific address in Northampton County
Across all of Northampton County's 6,935 residential structures, 350 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Northampton County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. Northampton County's coastal exposure is covered in the coastal vs. inland flood risk guide, including how storm surge risk differs from river flooding.