Orleans County, NY: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Orleans County scores at the 39.9th 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 once every 2 years. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Orleans County
FEMA hasn't published a residential structure count for Orleans County's mapped flood zone, so a reliable mandatory-compliance percentage can't be computed here — see the data quality guide for why this gap exists for roughly a quarter of US counties. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Orleans County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Orleans County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Orleans County ranks 1951 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1197 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 39,686 people live in Orleans County, New York, spread over 391.262 square miles.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Orleans County
56 of Orleans County's 16,313 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Orleans County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. Orleans County's compliance figure is one of the ones affected by FEMA's incomplete denominator data — the data quality guide explains what that means and how many counties it touches.