Arkansas
flood insurance data
- Residential NFIP policies counted by FEMA fell 29.6% between 2019 (13,260) and 2025 (9,330); the first year, 2019, has the highest count of the 7.
- Of the 25,014 owner registrations FEMA inspected in Arkansas after disasters of every declared type, 4.9% show more than $30,000 of FEMA-inspected damage, against 2.6% nationally. The disaster with the most inspections is DR-1975, SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND ASSOCIATED FLOODING (declared 2011-05-02), with 5,566.
- Of the 5 zones listed (AE, X, A, AH, AO), zone AE has the highest median premium ($1,045) and zone AO the lowest ($597). No coastal V or VE zone is listed.
- The median paid claim, $25,011, is 32.9% below the national median of the same years ($37,248), the 7th highest of 51 States and territories.
Source: FEMA, OpenFEMA NfipPolicies (v3, data as of 2026-09-09, retrieved 2026-10-11 and 2026-10-12), NfipClaims (v3, data as of 2026-09-09, retrieved 2026-10-12), DisasterDeclarationsSummaries (v2, data as of 2026-10-11, retrieved 2026-10-12), HousingAssistanceOwners (v2, data as of 2026-10-11, retrieved 2026-10-12), NfipCommunityStatusBook (v1, data as of 2026-10-11, retrieved 2026-10-12); CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items (CUUR0000SA0), annual average (BLS Public Data API v1, annual averages 2005-2025, retrieved 2026-10-12). Not an official federal report.
NFIP premiums in Arkansas
NFIP premiums: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote. Across 9,330 policies (policies effective 2025; occupancy: residential (occupancyType 1,2,3,11,12,13,14); amount: FEMA field policyCost), the median is $987, and half of them fall between $720 (Q1) and $1,307 (Q3).
The median NFIP premium in Arkansas, $987, is 6.4% below the national median ($1,055); it is the 20th lowest of 53 States and territories.
| Flood zone group | Policies | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFHA (A, AE, AH, AO, AR, A99, V, VE) | 6,995 | $717 | $983 | $1,423 |
| Outside SFHA (X, B, C) | 2,331 | $742 | $997 | $1,086 |
By flood zone
| Flood zone | Policies | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AE | 4,464 | $762 | $1,045 | $1,515 |
| X | 2,331 | $742 | $997 | $1,086 |
| A | 2,189 | $668 | $893 | $1,305 |
| AH | 173 | $741 | $955 | $1,189 |
| AO | 169 | $538 | $597 | $720 |
Policies in force by year
| Year | Policies |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 13,260 |
| 2020 | 12,460 |
| 2021 | 11,869 |
| 2022 | 11,020 |
| 2023 | 10,205 |
| 2024 | 9,773 |
| 2025 | 9,330 |
Base of each count: the yearly figures are FEMA API counts of residential policy terms, every premium included; the median and quartiles rest on the policies effective 2025 with a positive policyCost. For 2025 both bases count 9,330 policies.
NFIP paid building claims in Arkansas
NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: year of loss 2015-2024; 1,991 paid claims; median $25,011, half of them between $9,376 (Q1) and $55,641 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $31,105, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.
The named event with the most paid claims in Arkansas, Late spring severe storms, accounts for 25.9% of them, ahead of Early winter storms (9.2%): no single event holds a majority. The paid claims are spread over the years (year of loss 2015-2024): the busiest, 2017, holds 27.7% of them.
| Event | Paid claims | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Late spring severe storms | 516 | 25.9% |
| Early winter storms | 184 | 9.2% |
| Spring storm | 78 | 3.9% |
| Late winter severe storms | 59 | 3.0% |
| Hurricane Beryl | 13 | 0.7% |
Paid claims by year of loss
| Year of loss | Paid claims |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 284 |
| 2016 | 208 |
| 2017 | 552 |
| 2018 | 96 |
| 2019 | 443 |
| 2020 | 46 |
| 2021 | 130 |
| 2022 | 112 |
| 2023 | 57 |
| 2024 | 63 |
FEMA disaster declarations
Since 2000: 35 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) covering Arkansas, 31 of them major disaster declarations.
Arkansas counts 35 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) since 2000, the 18th most of 53 States and territories. Severe Storm declarations are the most frequent (28), ahead of Flood (4) and Hurricane (3).
| Incident type | Declarations |
|---|---|
| Flood | 4 |
| Hurricane | 3 |
| Severe Storm | 28 |
Latest declarations
- DR-4873: SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING (Flood, 2025-05-21)
- DR-4865: SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES (Severe Storm, 2025-05-08)
- EM-3627: SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING (Severe Storm, 2025-04-05)
- DR-4788: SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING (Severe Storm, 2024-05-30)
- DR-4748: SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES (Severe Storm, 2023-11-14)
FEMA assistance to homeowners
Since 2002: 25,014 owner registrations inspected by FEMA in Arkansas after disasters of every declared type; inspected damage is FEMA’s assessment for its assistance program, not repair cost.
| Damage band | Registrations |
|---|---|
| No FEMA-inspected damage | 3,976 |
| $1-$10,000 | 16,786 |
| $10,001-$20,000 | 2,080 |
| $20,001-$30,000 | 957 |
| More than $30,000 | 1,215 |
Disasters with the most inspections
- DR-1975, SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND ASSOCIATED FLOODING (declared 2011-05-02): 5,566 inspections
- DR-1751, SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING (declared 2008-03-26): 4,935 inspections
- DR-4873, SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING (declared 2025-05-21): 2,919 inspections
- DR-1472, SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING (declared 2003-06-06): 2,188 inspections
- DR-4788, SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING (declared 2024-05-30): 2,111 inspections
NFIP communities and flood maps
FEMA’s Community Status Book lists 515 NFIP communities in Arkansas: 424 participate in the NFIP and 25 (4.9%) are classed in the Community Rating System (CRS). The best class among the communities counted here is 7 (Centerton, City of and Little Rock, City of): FEMA applies its CRS discount to the full-risk premium of Regular Program NFIP policies in those communities, inside or outside the SFHA, not to the whole state; a policy can be excluded if its building does not comply with local floodplain rules. The oldest flood map still in effect in Arkansas dates from 1974-11-22 (Mount Pleasant, Town of). 91 of these communities do not participate in the NFIP; 91 carry a sanction, 11 coded as a suspension and 4 as a withdrawal.
| CRS class | Communities |
|---|---|
| 7 | 2 |
| 8 | 6 |
| 9 | 9 |
| 10 | 8 |
Questions about flood insurance in Arkansas
How much is flood insurance in Arkansas?
NFIP policyholders in Arkansas paid a median of $987 for residential policies effective 2025 (9,330 policies; FEMA field policyCost: premium, reserve fund assessment, federal policy fee and HFIAA surcharge); half paid between $720 and $1,307; $983 inside the Special Flood Hazard Area against $997 outside it: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote.
How many flood insurance claims has Arkansas had?
1,991 NFIP building claims were paid (year of loss 2015-2024), with a median of $25,011; the year with the most was 2017 (552), and the named event with the most was Late spring severe storms (516). These are amounts paid, not repair cost.
Is Arkansas in a flood zone?
Of the residential NFIP policies of Arkansas (policies effective 2025), 6,995 are rated inside the Special Flood Hazard Area and 2,331 outside it (zones listed: AE, X, A, AH, AO), but these aggregates cannot tell the flood zone of an address: FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center shows it for a given property.
Related tools
NFIP paid claims and premiums are not repair estimates: to estimate the cleanup of a flooded basement from published cost-guide rates, use the basement water damage repair cost calculator; for water removal and drying after any water loss, the water damage and mitigation calculator.
To set these figures against every State on one claims window, amounts paid, not repair cost: NFIP paid building claims by state.
Before using these figures
A state figure mixes very different counties and flood zones. Method and limits.
Source and notice
This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).