How much flood risk does Powell County actually carry?
Powell County lands at the 15.8th 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 4 years. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Powell County
Powell County is one of the counties where FEMA's own denominator for mandated flood-zone structures is missing, so no compliance rate is shown rather than a guessed one — the data quality guide covers how common this is. Across all residential structures in Powell County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 0.4% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
Powell County against the rest of the country
Powell County sits at rank 2678 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 2648 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Powell County, Montana covers 2,326.043 square miles and counts roughly 7,120 residents.
Your street may differ from Powell County's average
FEMA counts 4,344 residential structures in Powell County overall, 19 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Powell County's numbers. See the data quality guide for why Powell County, like hundreds of other counties, doesn't get a clean compliance percentage.