Simpson County, MS: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Simpson County scores at the 51.6th 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 1 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Simpson 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, 8.9% of them do — 54 active policies against 609 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.6% of all residential structures in Simpson County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Simpson County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Simpson County ranks 1588 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1601 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 25,597 people live in Simpson County, Mississippi, spread over 589.165 square miles.
Checking a specific address in Simpson County
FEMA counts 12,023 residential structures in Simpson County overall, 68 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Simpson 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.