Colorado
flood insurance data
- The median paid claim, $4,538, is 87.8% below the national median of the same years ($37,248), the 3rd lowest of 51 States and territories.
- Colorado counts 6 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) since 2000, the fewest of 53 States and territories. Flood declarations are the most frequent (4), ahead of Severe Storm (2).
- Inside the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), the median premium in Colorado is $1,161, 57.1% higher than outside it ($739); most of its zoned policies sit outside it (52.2%).
- Residential NFIP policies counted by FEMA fell 30.8% between 2019 (15,747) and 2025 (10,901); the first year, 2019, has the highest count of the 7.
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 Colorado
NFIP premiums: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote. Across 10,901 policies (policies effective 2025; occupancy: residential (occupancyType 1,2,3,11,12,13,14); amount: FEMA field policyCost), the median is $955, and half of them fall between $622 (Q1) and $1,309 (Q3).
Of the 4 zones listed (X, AE, A, AO), zone AO has the highest median premium ($1,299) and zone X the lowest ($739). No coastal V or VE zone is listed. The median NFIP premium in Colorado, $955, is 9.5% below the national median ($1,055); it is the 15th lowest of 53 States and territories.
| Flood zone group | Policies | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFHA (A, AE, AH, AO, AR, A99, V, VE) | 5,201 | $826 | $1,161 | $1,685 |
| Outside SFHA (X, B, C) | 5,670 | $505 | $739 | $1,105 |
By flood zone
| Flood zone | Policies | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| X | 5,670 | $505 | $739 | $1,105 |
| AE | 4,140 | $820 | $1,152 | $1,684 |
| A | 582 | $780 | $1,155 | $1,640 |
| AO | 389 | $953 | $1,299 | $1,748 |
Policies in force by year
| Year | Policies |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 15,747 |
| 2020 | 14,642 |
| 2021 | 14,136 |
| 2022 | 12,726 |
| 2023 | 12,121 |
| 2024 | 11,422 |
| 2025 | 10,901 |
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 10,901 policies.
NFIP paid building claims in Colorado
NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: year of loss 2015-2024; 376 paid claims; median $4,538, half of them between $1,694 (Q1) and $11,429 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $5,758, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.
2015 alone holds 50.0% of the paid claims (year of loss 2015-2024). With 376 paid claims (year of loss 2015-2024), Colorado has the 12th fewest of 53 States and territories.
| Event | Paid claims | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Colorado Burn Scar Flash Flooding | 2 | 0.5% |
Paid claims by year of loss
| Year of loss | Paid claims |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 188 |
| 2016 | 16 |
| 2017 | 12 |
| 2018 | 22 |
| 2019 | 20 |
| 2020 | 5 |
| 2021 | 18 |
| 2022 | 24 |
| 2023 | 66 |
| 2024 | 5 |
FEMA disaster declarations
Since 2000: 6 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) covering Colorado, 5 of them major disaster declarations.
| Incident type | Declarations |
|---|---|
| Flood | 4 |
| Hurricane | 0 |
| Severe Storm | 2 |
Latest declarations
- DR-4731: SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES (Flood, 2023-08-25)
- DR-4229: SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (Flood, 2015-07-16)
- DR-4145: SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (Flood, 2013-09-14)
- EM-3365: SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (Flood, 2013-09-12)
- DR-1762: SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES (Severe Storm, 2008-05-26)
FEMA assistance to homeowners
Since 2002: 19,141 owner registrations inspected by FEMA in Colorado 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 | 3,063 |
| $1-$10,000 | 14,608 |
| $10,001-$20,000 | 655 |
| $20,001-$30,000 | 323 |
| More than $30,000 | 492 |
Disasters with the most inspections
- DR-4145, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (declared 2013-09-14): 17,367 inspections
- DR-6405: 1,003 inspections
- DR-1762, SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES (declared 2008-05-26): 414 inspections
- DR-4634, WILDFIRES AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS (declared 2021-12-31): 357 inspections
NFIP communities and flood maps
FEMA’s Community Status Book lists 274 NFIP communities in Colorado: 255 participate in the NFIP and 53 (19.3%) are classed in the Community Rating System (CRS). The best class among the communities counted here is 2 (Fort Collins, 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 Colorado dates from 1974-12-13 (Kit Carson, Town of). 19 of these communities do not participate in the NFIP; 19 carry a sanction, 4 coded as a suspension and 0 as a withdrawal.
| CRS class | Communities |
|---|---|
| 2 | 1 |
| 5 | 12 |
| 6 | 5 |
| 7 | 16 |
| 8 | 3 |
| 9 | 4 |
| 10 | 12 |
Questions about flood insurance in Colorado
How much is flood insurance in Colorado?
NFIP policyholders in Colorado paid a median of $955 for residential policies effective 2025 (10,901 policies; FEMA field policyCost: premium, reserve fund assessment, federal policy fee and HFIAA surcharge); half paid between $622 and $1,309; $1,161 inside the Special Flood Hazard Area against $739 outside it: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote.
How many flood insurance claims has Colorado had?
376 NFIP building claims were paid (year of loss 2015-2024), with a median of $4,538; the year with the most was 2015 (188), and the named event with the most was Colorado Burn Scar Flash Flooding (2). These are amounts paid, not repair cost.
Is Colorado in a flood zone?
Of the residential NFIP policies of Colorado (policies effective 2025), 5,201 are rated inside the Special Flood Hazard Area and 5,670 outside it (zones listed: X, AE, A, 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
- 0 residential 2025 policies with policyCost <= 0 or empty are left out; 30 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): Southern Ute Indian Reservation (no match, 3 inspected); Ute Mountain Indian Reservation (Also NM) (no match, 1 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).