Pike County, MS flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Pike County sits at the 64.8th national percentile, below the national norm for flood hazard; 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. 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
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Pike 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, 11.5% of them do — 53 active policies against 460 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.4% of all residential structures in Pike County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Pike County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Pike County ranks 1156 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1206 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Pike County, Mississippi covers 409.185 square miles and counts roughly 38,980 residents.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Pike County
78 of Pike County's 22,434 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Pike 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.