Steele County, MN: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Steele County scores at the 42.2th 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 1 years. 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
28% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Steele County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 47 policies against 168 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.4% of all residential structures in Steele County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Steele County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Steele County ranks 1878 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1253 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Steele County, Minnesota covers 429.588 square miles and counts roughly 37,434 residents.
Checking a specific address in Steele County
66 of Steele County's 17,759 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Steele 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.