Sullivan County, NY: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Sullivan County scores at the 86.6th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Moderate" — a middling flood hazard by national standards. 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 1.9 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 Sullivan 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, 13.5% of them do — 199 active policies against 1,479 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.8% of all residential structures in Sullivan County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Sullivan County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Sullivan County ranks 443 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 726 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 80,450 people live in Sullivan County, New York, spread over 968.145 square miles.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Sullivan County
Across all of Sullivan County's 47,398 residential structures, 354 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Sullivan 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.