Union County, KY: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Union County scores at the 36th 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 4.1 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Union County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Union 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, 5.8% of them do — 8 active policies against 137 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. 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 2074 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2210 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Union County, Kentucky is home to about 13,178 people across 342.878 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Union County's average
FEMA counts 6,175 residential structures in Union County overall, 13 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.