Sussex County, NJ flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Sussex County sits at the 77.3th national percentile, a middling flood hazard by national standards; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 1.7 times a year. 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
Out of 148 homes FEMA counts inside Sussex County's mapped flood zone, 54 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 36.5% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Sussex County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Sussex County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Sussex County ranks 744 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 467 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Sussex County, New Jersey covers 518.493 square miles and counts roughly 147,444 residents.
Your street may differ from Sussex County's average
FEMA counts 53,853 residential structures in Sussex County overall, 171 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Sussex 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.