Pendleton County, KY: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Pendleton County scores at the 49.1th 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 1.6 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
25.9% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Pendleton County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 128 policies against 494 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1.9% of all residential structures in Pendleton County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Pendleton County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Pendleton County ranks 1661 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2100 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 14,844 people live in Pendleton County, Kentucky, spread over 277.148 square miles.
Your street may differ from Pendleton County's average
Across all of Pendleton County's 6,847 residential structures, 132 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Pendleton 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.