Steele County, MN Flood Zone & Flood Risk Data
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 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
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.