How much flood risk does Wayne County actually carry?
Wayne County lands at the 43th percentile of FEMA's National Risk Index for flooding, "Relatively Low" territory — below the national norm for flood hazard — with the hazard driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about once every 1 years. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Wayne County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Wayne 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, 3.7% of them do — 17 active policies against 459 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Wayne County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 0.3% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
How Wayne County compares nationally
Wayne County sits at rank 1853 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 1842 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Wayne County, Mississippi is home to about 19,749 people across 810.716 square miles of land.
Checking a specific address in Wayne County
FEMA counts 7,766 residential structures in Wayne County overall, 26 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Wayne County's numbers. The guide to what the Special Flood Hazard Area actually means explains why the mandatory-insurance rule exists and who it applies to.