Oldham County, KY: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Oldham County scores at the 59.7th 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 1.4 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Oldham County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Oldham 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, 58% of them do — 210 active policies against 362 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1.1% of all residential structures in Oldham County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Oldham County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Oldham County ranks 1325 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 784 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Oldham County, Kentucky is home to about 70,525 people across 187.294 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Oldham County
FEMA counts 21,303 residential structures in Oldham County overall, 241 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Oldham 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.