Sherburne County, MN: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Sherburne County scores at the 62.5th 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 once every 5 years. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
31.5% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Sherburne County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 78 policies against 248 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Sherburne County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Sherburne County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Sherburne County ranks 1229 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 607 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Sherburne County, Minnesota covers 432.947 square miles and counts roughly 103,059 residents.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Sherburne County
Across all of Sherburne County's 31,019 residential structures, 107 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Sherburne 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.