Washington County, MN: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Washington County scores at the 83.5th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Moderate" — a middling flood hazard by national standards. 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 2 years. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Washington County's flood-insurance compliance gap
22.4% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Washington County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 130 policies against 580 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Washington County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Washington County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Washington County ranks 541 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 255 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 283,960 people live in Washington County, Minnesota, spread over 384.762 square miles.
Checking a specific address in Washington County
Across all of Washington County's 90,207 residential structures, 247 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Washington 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.