Flood insurance in California

Is my quote or renewal normal here?

Type your yearly flood cost (premium plus fees, as on your bill) to see where it sits among California's existing single-family policies. This is a comparison, not a quote.

Enter an amount above.

Am I required to carry it?

Only if your home is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and your mortgage is from a federally regulated lender, or federal help to buy or build (42 U.S.C. §4012a). Check your zone on FEMA's flood map.

67.3% of California's NFIP policies are in high-risk zones (not 67.3% of all buildings, and not an answer about your own home).

Insured units by the flood zone each policy is rated in (a condo-building policy counts each unit). Outside those zones the federal requirement drops, but a lender can still require coverage.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Policies. Data effective July 31, 2026; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

Source: govinfo.gov, federalreserve.gov (official pages, checked October 25, 2026). Not endorsed by FEMA.

I'm outside the high-risk zone. Do floods happen there?

Yes. 32.8% of the flood-insurance claim money paid in California went to homes outside the high-risk zones, which hold 32.7% of policies here: at least as much per policy as inside the high-risk zone.

• Claim dollars paid outside A/V zones32.8%
• Policies outside A/V zones32.7%
• Zone X median cost$1,073

Outside those zones the federal requirement drops, but a lender can still require coverage. Insured claims only, by each policy's rated zone.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Claims; FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Policies. Data effective claims 1978–2026; policies July 31, 2026; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

How much does it cost here?

Typically about $1,053 a year ($88 a month), fees included. Half of homeowners here pay between $738 and $1,277. To check a quote, use the checker at the top.

Low end $738 · Typical $1,053 · High end $1,277 · Top 10% pay $1,874 or more

Each policy's annual cost (premium plus the federal policy fee, reserve fund assessment and HFIAA surcharge), single-family primary residences. The bar is the middle half of policies, from 101,902 single-family primary-home policies.

Coverage in force: $42.7 billion of building and $10.1 billion of contents coverage across all California policies.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Policies. Data effective July 31, 2026; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

How do I actually get covered — and how fast?

Buy it now: most policies start 30 days after you buy, but there's no wait if you buy it with a new or refinanced mortgage.

Most homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage; flood insurance is bought separately, through the federal NFIP or a private insurer. Exceptions: no wait if you buy while making, increasing, extending or renewing a mortgage, or change coverage at renewal; a one-day wait if a map revision puts the property in a high-risk zone and you buy within 13 months of the revision (44 CFR §61.11). NFIP covers up to $250,000 on the building and $100,000 on contents, which is a separate policy. To buy: call the NFIP at (877) 336-2627, go to FloodSmart.gov, or ask any licensed insurance agent. Every NFIP insurer offers the same rates.

Already flooded? Insured: report the loss to your insurance agent or company now (FEMA's steps: how to start a flood claim). Not insured: a policy bought today will not cover a flood that already happened, and FEMA disaster aid is open to people in counties designated in a federally declared disaster. Past aid paid here is in “Did the government pay homeowners after floods?” below.

Source: floodsmart.gov, govinfo.gov, fema.gov (official pages, checked October 25, 2026). Not endorsed by FEMA.

What does it cost in my flood zone?

From about $645 a year (Zone C) to $1,783 (Zone VE) here. Your zone is on your lender's flood determination or FEMA's map; find its row below.

Why can a high-risk zone cost less than Zone X here? Since FEMA's Risk Rating 2.0, price is set from each building's own flood risk, not its zone, and these are existing policies whose buildings differ. The reason for any one zone is not in this data.

Zones with fewer than 50 priced single-family policies are omitted. Your own premium still depends on elevation and coverage.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Policies. Data effective July 31, 2026; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

What does it cost in my county?

From about $658 a year in Sutter County to $1,856 in Lassen County, among counties with 30 or more priced policies. Find yours below.

27 smaller counties are not listed.

Lowest typical cost: Sutter County ($658), Merced County ($771), San Francisco County ($824), Sacramento County ($832) and Stanislaus County ($833). Highest: Lassen County ($1,856), Napa County ($1,813), Lake County ($1,729), Marin County ($1,632) and Siskiyou County ($1,486). Median annual cost of single-family primary-home policies.

Counties with fewer than 30 priced single-family policies show a dash; medians from under 100 policies move more from year to year.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Policies; FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Claims. Data effective July 31, 2026; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

Why do sites quote different averages for California?

Because they measure different things. From the same FEMA records, the typical single-family home pays $1,053 a year, but the average across every policy type is $1,423.

Published averages rarely say which of these they are, or which year. All six here come from the NFIP policies in force on July 31, 2026.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Policies. Data effective July 31, 2026; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

How do current premiums compare with FEMA's full-risk price?

44.8% of bills here can keep rising: they pay less than FEMA's full-risk price. Those prices step up toward full-risk each year, limited by the yearly cap. Median premium $831, full-risk $934 (premiums only, before fees).

• Median premium charged (before fees)$831
• Median full-risk premium$934
• Pay below full-risk44.8% of 101,902

Years to the full-risk price: By law most premiums cannot rise more than 18% a year (FloodSmart puts it at 18–25% for most policyholders); the cap usually does not apply to new policies, and fees and surcharges sit outside it. At the 18% cap, a policy at today's median premium ($831) would take at least about 1 annual renewal to reach the median full-risk premium ($934). This is the limit on how fast a bill can climb, not a forecast of any one policy.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Policies. Data effective July 31, 2026; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

Are people dropping flood insurance in California?

Yes: policies in force fell 19.2% from 2022 to 2026, from 195,649 to 158,060 NFIP policy records.

Policy records in force on July 31 of each year (a condo-building policy counts once). Private flood policies are not in this data.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Policies. Data effective 2019–2026; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

Can I pay less than the sticker price?

Yes, in 98 of the 534 towns here: up to 45% off in Roseville. It applies to every eligible policy there. Find your town below.

The 15 largest discounts of 98 discounted communities are shown; 436 communities here have no CRS discount. Each county page lists its own towns.

The Community Rating System cuts NFIP premiums for every eligible policy in a community that does extra flood work. The discount shown is the community's rate; what share of its policies currently receive it is not in this data. Confirm with your agent.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Community Status Book (CRS). Data effective current Community Status Book; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

What do floods actually pay out here?

Floods here have led to 53,563 NFIP flood claims and $759.0 million in payouts since 1978; the worst years were 1995, 2005 and 2023.

Orange bars are the three costliest years: 1995 ($115,910,399), 2005 ($91,112,351), 2023 ($64,729,267). Total paid $758,994,896: net building + contents payments by year of loss. Claims are matched by the claims dataset's county code, which may not exactly match a policy's property county.

That is 53,563 claims since 1978 against 173,168 policies in force today — a cumulative tally spanning ~49 years over a present-day snapshot, not an annual claim rate or a flood probability.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Claims. Data effective 1978–2026; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

Do flood claims here actually pay out?

Most do: 66.3% of claims here paid something. The average paid claim was $21,417.

• Average paid claim$21,417
• Closed with no payment33.7%
• Claims that paid35,490

FEMA lists reasons a claim closes without payment, such as damage below the deductible, no flood as the policy defines it, or seepage and drain backup the policy does not cover. The average is over claims that paid something; a single home can file across several floods over the years.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Claims. Data effective 1978–2026; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

Why do flood claims here go unpaid?

Of the 18,073 claims here closed without payment, the top reason FEMA recorded was “not an actual flood” (4,365 claims).

The building non-payment reason on each NFIP claim closed with nothing paid. Records marked “other” or entered in error are left out.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Claims. Data effective 1978–2026; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

Which named storms paid out the biggest totals here?

Among named storms, California Atmospheric River (2022–2023) paid out the largest total: $77.8 million across 1,349 NFIP flood claims.

NFIP claims that were paid, grouped by the flood event FEMA assigned; claims with no event name, or a generic one like “flooding”, are left out.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Claims. Data effective 1978–2026; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

Would a policy here pay to rebuild my home?

Not in full for 48.7% of insured single-family homes here: FEMA's records put their rebuilding cost above the NFIP's $250,000 building limit.

• Rebuilding cost above the building limit (of 72,211 policies reporting one)48.7%
• Carry the maximum building coverage89.0%
• Damage was more than the coverage (of 33,314 claims paid with a damage figure)4.8%

NFIP covers up to $250,000 on the building and $100,000 on contents, which is a separate policy. Rebuilding cost is the replacement-cost figure on each single-family primary-home policy record.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Policies; FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Claims. Data effective July 31, 2026; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

Source: floodsmart.gov (official pages, checked October 25, 2026). Not endorsed by FEMA.

How often do the same homes flood here?

Some homes here flood again and again: 427 flood-damage applications in FEMA's disaster-aid records came from homes that flooded more than once.

• Repeat-flood damage records427

One home appears once for each declared disaster that damaged it, so this counts damage events on repeat-flooded homes, not distinct homes (FEMA says these records cannot be totaled by property). Disaster-aid applications since 2002, separate from NFIP insurance claims.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — Repetitive-Loss Flood Properties. Data effective FEMA's current list; retrieved October 26, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

How California counties compare

33 of California's 58 counties are rated Relatively High or Very High for flooding by FEMA's National Risk Index, a model of expected loss; the claims below show what has actually flooded.

Source: FEMA — National Risk Index (flood). Data effective NRI 2023 release; retrieved October 25, 2026.

How many homes here carry flood insurance?

About 1 in 77 homes here has flood insurance (1.3%). Inside the high-risk zone it's 30.5%.

• All homes insured1.3%
• High-risk-zone homes insured30.5%
• Residential policies in force140,683

FEMA's NFIP residential take-up rate — share of residential structures with an NFIP policy, overall and inside the Special Flood Hazard Area. NFIP only (excludes private flood insurance); the structure count is a FEMA estimate.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Residential Penetration Rates. Data effective August 3, 2026; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

How often is California a flood disaster?

62 federal disasters for floods or storms here; the latest was Severe Winter Storm (2024).

• 2024 — Severe Storm: Severe Winter Storm
• 2024 — Severe Storm: Severe Storms And Flooding
• 2024 — Severe Storm: Severe Winter Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides
• 2024 — Flood: Severe Storm And Flooding
• 2023 — Hurricane: Tropical Storm Hilary
• 2023 — Severe Storm: Severe Storm And Flooding

Distinct storms by calendar year (one storm's emergency and major-disaster declarations are counted once), not individual declaration records.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — Disaster Declarations Summaries. Data effective declarations through 2026; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

Did the government pay homeowners after floods?

Yes, but not much per household: FEMA approved $348.1 million for homeowners here, about $1,093 per registration, against an average paid flood claim of $21,417.

FEMA disaster aid helps with uninsured and underinsured losses, and is separate from NFIP insurance.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA — Housing Assistance (Owners); FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Claims. Data effective owner registrations by disaster; retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.

Reconciliation & data completeness

Our record counts match the API's own totals; FEMA's official policy count is not yet joined for California.

In-force count: 173,168 policy units (from 158,060 API records; condo-association records carry more than one unit). Count reconciliation (not a snapshot proof): policies: 158060/158060 fetched; claims: 53563/53563 fetched.

What this data cannot tell you

• Your own premium — it depends on elevation, coverage and deductible. We show where existing policies fall.
• Private (non-NFIP) flood insurance prices.
• Your address's exact flood zone — use FEMA's Flood Map Service Center.
• Why any one premium changes — we show the gap to full-risk, not the cause.
• A year-over-year premium trend — the in-force snapshot holds only current-term policies, so a like-for-like multi-year index isn't possible from this data. A per-effective-year median is shown only where several years of policies exist.

The federal datasets behind this page

Every figure comes from a public U.S. federal dataset; estimates are labeled where they appear. This page joins 8 of them for California. Last pulled October 26, 2026.

• FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Policies
• FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Claims
• FEMA — National Risk Index (flood)
• FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Community Status Book (CRS)
• FEMA OpenFEMA — Disaster Declarations Summaries
• FEMA OpenFEMA — Housing Assistance (Owners)
• FEMA OpenFEMA — Repetitive-Loss Flood Properties
• FEMA OpenFEMA — NFIP Residential Penetration Rates