How much flood risk does Perry County actually carry?
Perry County lands at the 23.6th percentile of FEMA's National Risk Index for flooding, "Very Low" territory — among the lowest flood hazard in the country — with the hazard driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about once every 1 years. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Perry County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Perry 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, 4.9% of them do — 32 active policies against 649 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Perry County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 0.6% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
Perry County against the rest of the country
Perry County sits at rank 2443 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 2322 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Perry County, Mississippi is home to about 11,406 people across 647.274 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Perry County
36 of Perry County's 5,582 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Perry County's numbers. The guide to what the Special Flood Hazard Area actually means explains why the mandatory-insurance rule exists and who it applies to.