Washington County, UT flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Washington County sits at the 93.4th national percentile, well above the national norm for flood hazard; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 6.7 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Washington County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Washington 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, 14.3% of them do — 82 active policies against 574 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. 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.
How Washington County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Washington County ranks 225 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 344 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 207,943 people live in Washington County, Utah, spread over 2,427.589 square miles.
Your street may differ from Washington County's average
FEMA counts 73,265 residential structures in Washington County overall, 250 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.