Union County, IA flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Union County sits at the 30.1th national percentile, among the lowest flood hazard in the country; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 1 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
13% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Union County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 12 policies against 92 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.2% of all residential structures in Union County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Union County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Union County ranks 2257 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2287 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Union County, Iowa is home to about 11,955 people across 423.645 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Union County's average
FEMA counts 6,063 residential structures in Union County overall, 14 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Union 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.