Stanley County, SD flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Stanley County sits at the 20th national percentile, among the lowest flood hazard in the country; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about once every 1 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
21% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Stanley County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 50 policies against 238 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 7.4% of all residential structures in Stanley County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Stanley County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Stanley County ranks 2559 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2956 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Stanley County, South Dakota is home to about 3,015 people across 1,444.436 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Stanley County
88 of Stanley County's 1,197 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Stanley 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.