Saline County, AR: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Saline County scores at the 74.9th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Moderate" — a middling flood hazard by national standards. 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 3.1 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Saline County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Saline 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, 22% of them do — 143 active policies against 651 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.5% of all residential structures in Saline County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Saline County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Saline County ranks 823 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 503 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Saline County, Arkansas covers 723.516 square miles and counts roughly 131,252 residents.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Saline County
FEMA counts 47,767 residential structures in Saline County overall, 237 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Saline 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.