Washington County, NC: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Washington County scores at the 47.2th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Low" — below the national norm for flood hazard. The hazard here is driven by coastal storm surge rather than inland rivers — FEMA's model puts a surge event here at about once every 1 years. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Washington County's flood-insurance compliance gap
22.7% 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: 123 policies against 543 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 3.5% 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.
How Washington County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Washington County ranks 1723 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2369 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Washington County, North Carolina is home to about 10,654 people across 346.51 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Washington County's average
199 of Washington County's 5,768 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Washington County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. Washington County's coastal exposure is covered in the coastal vs. inland flood risk guide, including how storm surge risk differs from river flooding.