Orange County, NC: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Orange County scores at the 85.5th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Moderate" — a middling flood hazard by national standards. 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 1.3 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.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
Out of 409 homes FEMA counts inside Orange County's mapped flood zone, 205 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 50.1% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1.5% of all residential structures in Orange County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Orange County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Orange County ranks 480 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 458 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Orange County, North Carolina covers 397.591 square miles and counts roughly 152,877 residents.
Checking a specific address in Orange County
621 of Orange County's 42,431 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Orange 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.