The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the federal government’s flood insurance program, run by FEMA. Congress created it with the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. FEMA counts 4.7 million policyholders in 22,600 participating communities, and policies are sold through more than 47 private insurance companies plus FEMA’s own NFIP Direct. (FEMA)
The program’s flood maps are what decide your flood zone. Look up your address to see yours.
The NFIP is a bargain between Washington and local governments, and it has three working parts:
Flood insurance is mandatory when a building is in a Special Flood Hazard Area (zones beginning with A or V) in a participating community, and the loan on it falls under federal rules. That covers a loan from a federally regulated lending institution, a loan made, insured or guaranteed by a federal agency, or a loan sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. That rule comes from the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973. Outside those zones the purchase requirement doesn’t apply, though a lender may still ask for a policy. Buying is voluntary for everyone else, including renters, who can insure their contents.
A quarter of all claims were rated in Zone X or its older equivalents B and C, the zones outside the high-risk area. See Flood insurance in Zone X for what the claims data shows.
An NFIP policy covers direct physical loss by flood. The maximum amounts available are set by regulation (44 CFR 61.6):
Building and contents are separate coverages. A homeowner who only buys building coverage gets nothing for furniture and belongings. New policies generally wait 30 days before taking effect, with some exceptions such as a policy bought at a mortgage closing. (FloodSmart)
The NFIP changed its pricing in 2021–2022. New policies moved to the new approach on October 1, 2021, and all renewals followed from April 1, 2022. Premiums are now based on the individual building’s flood risk rather than mainly on its flood zone. FEMA says existing law keeps most rates from rising more than 18% a year. (FEMA) For typical prices, see How much does flood insurance cost?
FEMA publishes its NFIP claims records with personal details removed. Our copy is the full published file: 2,725,989 claims for losses from 1978 through 2026, and $88.9 billion in building and contents payments on them. That figure is nominal, not adjusted for inflation, and excludes separate Increased Cost of Compliance payments. The mean claim that paid something came to $41,999. Because a few disaster-size claims pull the mean up, a typical claim is smaller. 22.4% of claims show no building or contents payment.
The program’s costs are dominated by a handful of disaster years:
| Year of loss | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 277,027 | $17.48B |
| 2017 | 145,681 | $10.63B |
| 2012 | 175,804 | $9.43B |
| 2024 | 102,054 | $8.80B |
| 2022 | 60,262 | $5.26B |
These are calendar-year totals for all floods. All five were hurricane years: Katrina, Rita and Wilma in 2005; Sandy in 2012; Harvey and Irma in 2017; Ian in 2022; Helene and Milton in 2024. Those five years account for $51.6 billion, more than half of everything paid out. By period, in nominal dollars:
Where: three states file almost half of all claims. Louisiana has 485,743 claims ($20.7 billion paid), Florida 448,618 ($19.3 billion) and Texas 394,204 ($17.4 billion) — together 48.7% of all claims. New Jersey (202,340) and New York (175,430) come next. See every state on our claims rankings and damage rankings.
Why: each claim carries a cause-of-damage code, defined in FEMA’s data dictionary. “Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt” is the most common, on 44.3% of all claims, ahead of tidal water overflow (25.2%) and stream, river or lake overflow (20.1%). Another 7.6% are coded “other causes.” The last 2.8% are blank, administrative codes, or less common causes such as erosion and landslides.
Related: Flood insurance in Zone X, What is base flood elevation?, Do I need flood insurance?
Sources: FEMA program facts from fema.gov; coverage limits from 44 CFR 61.6; claims figures from FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims (all records, retrieved October 2026). 2026 is a partial year. Download summaries on our data page.
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