Flood insurance in Ocean County, New Jersey
What existing NFIP policyholders here actually pay, how that compares with FEMA's full-risk price, the flood risk, the claims history, and how to pay less — every figure from public federal data, sourced and dated.
Policies as of July 31, 202641,040 policy units in force
This is what existing single-family policies cost — not a quote. Your own premium depends on your building, coverage and elevation.
Check your address on FEMA's flood map →Your flood zone is set at your exact address and drives your price and whether coverage is required. Look it up first, then read your zone's row in "What does it cost in my flood zone?" below.
How much flood risk is here?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Ocean County's coastal flood risk Very High and inland flood risk Relatively High, from expected annual loss.
- Coastal flood riskVery High
- Coastal modeled annual loss (county)$19,181,578/yr (Very High, 95th national percentile)
- Inland flood riskRelatively High
- Inland modeled annual loss (county)$99,815,251/yr (Relatively High, 46th national percentile)
Modeled annual loss is FEMA's estimate for the whole county (all buildings), not any one home's expected loss or premium, and not a flood probability.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA. Data effective NRI 2023 release; retrieved October 22, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.
Am I required to carry it?
About 93.9% of the NFIP policy units in this dataset for Ocean County are in mapped high-risk (A/V) zones — not 93.9% of all buildings. In a Special Flood Hazard Area a federally backed mortgage legally requires flood insurance.
- Zone AE33,785 policy units
- Zone AO2,643 policy units
- Zone X2,493 policy units
- Zone VE1,598 policy units
- Zone A05196 policy units
- Zone A115 policy units
- Zone A0681 policy units
- Zone AOB43 policy units
- Other or unclassified zones86 policy units
Zone mix by policy units (summed policyCount). Federal rule: a lender must require flood insurance on a building in a Special Flood Hazard Area with a federally backed loan (42 U.S.C. §4012a). This is the mix of existing policies, not of all buildings, and does not establish any one property's obligation.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA. Data effective July 31, 2026; retrieved October 22, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.
How much does it cost here?
Among existing single-family primary-residence NFIP policies in Ocean County, the median annual cost is $1,146, with the middle half between $887 and $1,562 (17,157 policies). This is what current policyholders pay — a new policy on a different building can differ.
Each policy's annual cost (premium plus fees), single-family primary residences. The bar is the middle half (p25–p75); the orange line is FEMA's full-risk price.
Coverage in force: $9,685,078,000 of building and $1,886,857,000 of contents coverage across all Ocean County policies.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA. Data effective July 31, 2026; retrieved October 22, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.
What does it cost in my flood zone?
Median annual cost of existing single-family policies by rated flood zone in Ocean County — so you can read the row for your own zone (it's on your lender's determination).
| Flood zone | Median annual cost | Policies |
|---|---|---|
| Zone AE | $1,158 | 14,726 |
| Zone X | $1,086 | 1,532 |
| Zone AO | $1,164 | 486 |
| Zone VE | $1,056 | 150 |
| Zone A05 | $1,208 | 101 |
| Zone A | $930 | 82 |
Zones with fewer than 50 priced single-family policies are omitted. Your own premium still depends on elevation and coverage.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA. Data effective July 31, 2026; retrieved October 22, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.
Find your ZIP in this county
Type your ZIP to see its own NFIP policy count and median cost within Ocean County. Biggest ZIPs are listed below.
Enter a 5-digit ZIP above.
| ZIP | Median annual cost | Policy units |
|---|---|---|
| 08008 | $1,188 | 10,371 |
| 08742 | $1,154 | 3,962 |
| 08735 | $1,142 | 3,644 |
| 08753 | $1,214 | 3,511 |
| 08751 | $1,163 | 2,898 |
| 08050 | $970 | 2,491 |
| 08087 | $918 | 2,317 |
| 08723 | $1,143 | 1,971 |
Median shown only for ZIPs with 25+ priced single-family policies; smaller ZIPs show count only.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA. Data effective July 31, 2026; retrieved October 22, 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?
57.0% of 17,157 single-family policies pay less than FEMA's own full-risk price; the median full-risk premium is $1,566 versus the $1,146 actually charged.
- Median charged now$1,146
- Median full-risk price$1,566
- Pay below full risk57.0% of 17,157
Years to the full-risk price: under the statutory cap, premiums for most primary residences rise at most 18% a year (HFIAA cap, FEMA Risk Rating 2.0). At that maximum rate a policy at today's median ($1,146) would take at least about 2 annual renewals to reach the median full-risk price ($1,566). This is the cap on how fast a bill can climb, not a forecast of any one policy; statutory surcharges and fees are outside the cap.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA. Data effective July 31, 2026; retrieved October 22, 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?
19 of Ocean County's 33 NFIP communities carry a Community Rating System discount that cuts every eligible policy's premium — up to 25% inside the high-risk zone (Berkeley, Township Of).
| Community | CRS class | High-risk discount | Other-area discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley, Township Of | 5 | 25% | 10% |
| Mantoloking, Borough Of | 5 | 25% | 10% |
| Stafford, Township Of | 5 | 25% | 10% |
| Beach Haven, Borough Of | 5 | 25% | 10% |
| Little Egg Harbor, Township Of | 6 | 20% | 10% |
| Point Pleasant Beach, Borough Of | 6 | 20% | 10% |
| Barnegat, Township Of | 6 | 20% | 10% |
| Brick, Township Of | 6 | 20% | 10% |
| Long Beach, Township Of | 6 | 20% | 10% |
| Ocean, Township Of | 6 | 20% | 10% |
| Lavallette, Borough Of | 7 | 15% | 5% |
| Barnegat Light, Borough Of | 7 | 15% | 5% |
| Bay Head, Borough Of | 7 | 15% | 5% |
| Toms River, Township Of | 7 | 15% | 5% |
| Harvey Cedars, Borough Of | 7 | 15% | 5% |
| Point Pleasant, Borough Of | 7 | 15% | 5% |
| Seaside Park, Borough Of | 7 | 15% | 5% |
| Ship Bottom, Borough Of | 7 | 15% | 5% |
| Surf City, Borough Of | 7 | 15% | 5% |
| Beachwood, Borough Of | — | No discount | No discount |
| Eagleswood, Township Of | — | No discount | No discount |
| Island Heights, Borough Of | — | No discount | No discount |
| Jackson, Township Of | — | No discount | No discount |
| Lacey, Township Of | 10 | No discount | No discount |
| Lakehurst, Borough Of | — | No discount | No discount |
| Lakewood, Township Of | — | No discount | No discount |
| Manchester, Township Of | — | No discount | No discount |
| Ocean Gate, Borough Of | — | No discount | No discount |
| Pine Beach, Borough Of | — | No discount | No discount |
| Plumsted, Township Of | — | No discount | No discount |
| Seaside Heights, Borough Of | 10 | No discount | No discount |
| South Toms River, Borough Of | — | No discount | No discount |
| Tuckerton, Borough Of | 10 | No discount | No discount |
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. Data effective October 22, 2026; retrieved October 22, 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?
Between 1978 and 2026, Ocean County had 52,884 paid NFIP flood claims totalling $2,433,645,952.
Orange bars are the three costliest years: 2012 ($2,315,277,276), 1992 ($66,752,290), 2011 ($17,188,149). 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 52,884 paid claims since 1978 against 41,040 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. Data effective 1978–2026; retrieved October 22, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.
How often do the same homes flood here?
FEMA has recorded 431 properties in Ocean County that flooded more than once and drew federal disaster aid for repeat flood losses.
- Repeat-loss properties431
FEMA-designated repetitive-loss (RL) and severe repetitive-loss (SRL) properties — individual homes with more than one flood loss over time, aggregated to the county and distinct from the annual NFIP claim counts above. A high count means the same homes flood again and again here. These drew FEMA Individual Assistance (for uninsured losses), so read it as a chronic-flooding signal, not an insured-claims total.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA. Data effective 2026-10-24; retrieved 2026-10-24. FEMA repetitive-loss flood-property records. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.
How Ocean County compares across the state
Every county in the state shaded by its FEMA flood-risk rating — Ocean County is outlined, so you can see whether it runs hotter or cooler than its neighbours.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA. Data effective NRI 2023 release; retrieved October 22, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.
How common is flood insurance here?
Ocean County has about 13.9 NFIP flood policies for every 100 homes (41,040 policy units vs 295,201 housing units).
- NFIP policy units41,040
- Housing units295,201
- Policies per 100 homes13.9
A coverage-commonness proxy: policy units include some multi-unit and non-residential policies and exclude private flood insurance, so read it as how widespread NFIP coverage is here, not an exact share of households.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP + U.S. Census ACS 5-year 2023 (B25001), retrieved October 22, 2026.How often is this county a flood disaster?
Ocean County has had 14 distinct federal flood, hurricane or tropical-storm disaster declarations. The most recent:
- 2021 — Hurricane: Remnants Of Hurricane Ida
- 2016 — Severe Storm: Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm
- 2012 — Hurricane: Hurricane Sandy
- 2011 — Hurricane: Hurricane Irene
- 2010 — Severe Storm: Severe Storms And Flooding
- 2009 — Severe Storm: Severe Storms And Flooding Associated With Tropical Depression Ida And A Nor'Eas
Distinct storms by calendar year (one storm's emergency and major-disaster declarations are counted once), not individual declaration records.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA. Data effective declarations through 2026; retrieved October 22, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.
More data: FEMA disaster aid & reconciliation
Did the government pay homeowners after floods?
FEMA approved $159,507,964 in Individual & Households housing help to Ocean County homeowners across 4 disasters, on 44,976 valid registrations.
FEMA Individual Assistance is disaster aid, usually capped and partial — separate from NFIP insurance and not a substitute for a policy.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA. Data effective owner registrations by disaster; retrieved October 22, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA.
Reconciliation & data completeness
Our counts are checked against FEMA's official figure and the API's own totals.
In-force count: 41,040 policy units (from 37,311 API records; condo-association records carry more than one unit). FEMA official reconciliation count pending for this county. Count reconciliation (not a snapshot proof): policies: 37311/37311 fetched; claims: 52884/52884 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 premiums are rising — 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 here comes from a public U.S. federal dataset — no estimates, no private data. This page joins 8 of them for Ocean County, each linked to its official source. Data last pulled October 22, 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)
- U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 5-year B25001 (housing units)
- FEMA OpenFEMA — Repetitive-Loss Flood Properties
Where would your premium fall?
Type your annual flood premium to see where it sits among Ocean County's existing single-family policies. This is a comparison, not a quote.
Enter an amount above.