Washington County, PA: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Washington County scores at the 91.4th 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 3.7 times a year. 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
15.9% 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: 362 policies against 2,282 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.5% 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.
Where Washington County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Washington County ranks 288 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 339 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Washington County, Pennsylvania covers 857.01 square miles and counts roughly 210,434 residents.
Your street may differ from Washington County's average
FEMA counts 88,993 residential structures in Washington County overall, 468 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
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.