Silver Bow County, MT: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Silver Bow County scores at the 21.7th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Very Low" — among the lowest flood hazard in the country. 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 4 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 Silver Bow 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, 11.2% of them do — 17 active policies against 152 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.2% of all residential structures in Silver Bow County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Silver Bow County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Silver Bow County ranks 2504 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1290 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Silver Bow County, Montana covers 717.99 square miles and counts roughly 36,134 residents.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Silver Bow County
FEMA counts 15,925 residential structures in Silver Bow County overall, 27 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Silver Bow 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.