Wilkes County, GA: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Wilkes County scores at the 15.7th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Very Low" — among the lowest flood hazard in the country. 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 3 years. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
Out of 4 homes FEMA counts inside Wilkes County's mapped flood zone, 0 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 0% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0% of all residential structures in Wilkes County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Wilkes County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Wilkes County ranks 2680 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2442 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Wilkes County, Georgia is home to about 9,567 people across 469.504 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Wilkes County's average
2 of Wilkes County's 5,489 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Wilkes 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.