California
flood insurance data

NFIP premiums in California

NFIP premiums: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote. Across 140,445 policies (policies effective 2025; occupancy: residential (occupancyType 1,2,3,11,12,13,14); amount: FEMA field policyCost), the median is $1,056, and half of them fall between $768 (Q1) and $1,311 (Q3).

With 140,445 residential NFIP policies effective 2025, California has the 4th most of 53 States and territories.

By flood zone

Policies in force by year

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 140,445 policies.

NFIP paid building claims in California

NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: year of loss 2015-2024; 4,598 paid claims; median $20,115, half of them between $7,438 (Q1) and $53,886 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $23,626, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.

With 4,598 paid claims (year of loss 2015-2024), California has the 11th most of 53 States and territories. The named event with the most paid claims in California, California Atmospheric River, accounts for 28.8% of them, ahead of San Diego Flooding (3.9%): no single event holds a majority. The paid claims are spread over the years (year of loss 2015-2024): the busiest, 2023, holds 24.6% of them.

Paid claims by year of loss

FEMA disaster declarations

Since 2000: 30 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) covering California, 27 of them major disaster declarations.

California counts 30 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) since 2000, the 21st most of 53 States and territories. Severe Storm declarations are the most frequent (19), ahead of Flood (8) and Hurricane (3).

Latest declarations

• DR-4773: SEVERE WINTER STORM (Severe Storm, 2024-04-19)
• DR-4772: SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (Severe Storm, 2024-04-19)
• DR-4769: SEVERE WINTER STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (Severe Storm, 2024-04-13)
• DR-4758: SEVERE STORM AND FLOODING (Flood, 2024-02-19)
• DR-4750: TROPICAL STORM HILARY (Hurricane, 2023-11-21)

FEMA assistance to homeowners

Since 2002: 80,065 owner registrations inspected by FEMA in California after disasters of every declared type; inspected damage is FEMA’s assessment for its assistance program, not repair cost.

Disasters with the most inspections

• DR-4856, WILDFIRES AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS (declared 2025-01-08): 18,211 inspections
• DR-4683, SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (declared 2023-01-14): 10,078 inspections
• DR-1577, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, DEBRIS FLOWS, AND MUDSLIDES (declared 2005-02-04): 9,913 inspections
• DR-4699, SEVERE WINTER STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (declared 2023-04-03): 6,470 inspections
• DR-4193, EARTHQUAKE (declared 2014-09-11): 4,576 inspections

NFIP communities and flood maps

FEMA’s Community Status Book lists 534 NFIP communities in California: 529 participate in the NFIP and 107 (20.0%) are classed in the Community Rating System (CRS). The best class among the communities counted here is 1 (Roseville, City of): FEMA applies its CRS discount to the full-risk premium of Regular Program NFIP policies in that community, 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 California dates from 1984-03-23 (Live Oak, City of). 5 of these communities do not participate in the NFIP; 5 carry a sanction, 1 coded as a suspension and 0 as a withdrawal.

Questions about flood insurance in California

How much is flood insurance in California?

NFIP policyholders in California paid a median of $1,056 for residential policies effective 2025 (140,445 policies; FEMA field policyCost: premium, reserve fund assessment, federal policy fee and HFIAA surcharge); half paid between $768 and $1,311; $1,066 inside the Special Flood Hazard Area against $1,051 outside it: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote.

How many flood insurance claims has California had?

4,598 NFIP building claims were paid (year of loss 2015-2024), with a median of $20,115; the year with the most was 2023 (1,129), and the named event with the most was California Atmospheric River (1,324). These are amounts paid, not repair cost.

Is California in a flood zone?

Of the residential NFIP policies of California (policies effective 2025), 90,793 are rated inside the Special Flood Hazard Area and 49,067 outside it (zones listed: X, AE, A99, AO, A, AH, VE), but these aggregates cannot tell the flood zone of an address: FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center shows it for a given property.

Counties of California

• Sacramento County

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

• 0 residential 2025 policies with policyCost <= 0 or empty are left out; 585 kept policies have zone D or an unknown zone (in n, not in the zone tables).
• Owners assistance: county names not matched to a FIPS code (counted in the State total only): Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation (no match, 414 inspected)

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).