Is Tehama County, CA in a flood zone?
FEMA's National Risk Index puts Tehama County's flood hazard at the 90th percentile nationally — 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 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
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Tehama 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, 16.5% of them do — 461 active policies against 2,788 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Tehama County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 2.1% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
How Tehama County compares nationally
Tehama County sits at rank 333 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 849 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Tehama County, California is home to about 64,451 people across 2,949.137 square miles of land.
Checking a specific address in Tehama County
FEMA counts 25,211 residential structures in Tehama County overall, 523 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Tehama County's numbers. The guide to what the Special Flood Hazard Area actually means explains why the mandatory-insurance rule exists and who it applies to.