Vilas County, WI: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Vilas County scores at the 60.9th 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 once every 4 years. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Vilas County
Out of 95 homes FEMA counts inside Vilas County's mapped flood zone, 6 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 6.3% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.1% of all residential structures in Vilas County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Vilas County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Vilas County ranks 1287 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1651 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 23,948 people live in Vilas County, Wisconsin, spread over 857.712 square miles.
Your street may differ from Vilas County's average
Across all of Vilas County's 19,776 residential structures, 17 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Vilas 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.