Iowa
flood insurance data
- Residential NFIP policies counted by FEMA fell 38.2% between 2019 (10,621) and 2025 (6,561); the first year, 2019, has the highest count of the 7.
- Of the 50,795 owner registrations FEMA inspected in Iowa after disasters of every declared type, 5.3% show more than $30,000 of FEMA-inspected damage, against 2.6% nationally. The disaster with the most inspections is DR-1763, SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING (declared 2008-05-27), with 24,781.
- The median paid claim, $12,595, is 66.2% below the national median of the same years ($37,248), the 17th lowest of 51 States and territories.
- Iowa counts 39 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) since 2000, the 13th most of 53 States and territories. Severe Storm declarations are the most frequent (29), ahead of Flood (9) and Hurricane (1).
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 Iowa
NFIP premiums: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote. Across 6,561 policies (policies effective 2025; occupancy: residential (occupancyType 1,2,3,11,12,13,14); amount: FEMA field policyCost), the median is $1,025, and half of them fall between $720 (Q1) and $1,324 (Q3).
Of the 4 zones listed (AE, X, A, AH), zone AE has the highest median premium ($1,123) and zone AH the lowest ($702). No coastal V or VE zone is listed. With 6,561 residential NFIP policies effective 2025, Iowa has the 17th fewest of 53 States and territories. Inside the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), the median premium in Iowa is $1,061, 7.8% higher than outside it ($984); most of its zoned policies sit inside the SFHA (64.1%).
| Flood zone group | Policies | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFHA (A, AE, AH, AO, AR, A99, V, VE) | 4,208 | $743 | $1,061 | $1,511 |
| Outside SFHA (X, B, C) | 2,353 | $687 | $984 | $1,198 |
By flood zone
| Flood zone | Policies | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AE | 2,857 | $799 | $1,123 | $1,624 |
| X | 2,353 | $687 | $984 | $1,198 |
| A | 892 | $770 | $1,067 | $1,461 |
| AH | 422 | $552 | $702 | $856 |
Policies in force by year
| Year | Policies |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 10,621 |
| 2020 | 9,757 |
| 2021 | 9,092 |
| 2022 | 7,907 |
| 2023 | 7,213 |
| 2024 | 6,999 |
| 2025 | 6,561 |
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 6,561 policies.
NFIP paid building claims in Iowa
NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: year of loss 2015-2024; 1,797 paid claims; median $12,595, half of them between $4,927 (Q1) and $35,000 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $15,060, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.
The paid claims are spread over the years (year of loss 2015-2024): the busiest, 2016, holds 30.0% of them. Named events weigh little on the paid claims in Iowa: the largest, March 2019 Midwest Flooding, accounts for 16.2% of them.
| Event | Paid claims | Share |
|---|---|---|
| March 2019 Midwest Flooding | 291 | 16.2% |
| June Midwest Flooding | 145 | 8.1% |
| Iowa Flooding | 16 | 0.9% |
Paid claims by year of loss
| Year of loss | Paid claims |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 84 |
| 2016 | 539 |
| 2017 | 55 |
| 2018 | 268 |
| 2019 | 511 |
| 2020 | 28 |
| 2021 | 23 |
| 2022 | 1 |
| 2023 | 61 |
| 2024 | 227 |
FEMA disaster declarations
Since 2000: 39 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) covering Iowa, 38 of them major disaster declarations.
| Incident type | Declarations |
|---|---|
| Flood | 9 |
| Hurricane | 1 |
| Severe Storm | 29 |
Latest declarations
- DR-4942: SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (Severe Storm, 2026-09-01)
- DR-4796: SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES (Severe Storm, 2024-06-24)
- DR-4784: SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING (Severe Storm, 2024-05-24)
- DR-4732: FLOODING (Flood, 2023-08-25)
- DR-4642: SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES (Severe Storm, 2022-02-23)
FEMA assistance to homeowners
Since 2002: 50,795 owner registrations inspected by FEMA in Iowa 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 | 4,115 |
| $1-$10,000 | 38,612 |
| $10,001-$20,000 | 3,037 |
| $20,001-$30,000 | 2,316 |
| More than $30,000 | 2,715 |
Disasters with the most inspections
- DR-1763, SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING (declared 2008-05-27): 24,781 inspections
- DR-1930, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES (declared 2010-07-29): 10,104 inspections
- DR-4796, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES (declared 2024-06-24): 5,508 inspections
- DR-1518, SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING (declared 2004-05-25): 3,386 inspections
- DR-4557, SEVERE STORMS (declared 2020-08-17): 2,274 inspections
NFIP communities and flood maps
FEMA’s Community Status Book lists 910 NFIP communities in Iowa: 769 participate in the NFIP and 15 (1.6%) are classed in the Community Rating System (CRS). The best class among the communities counted here is 4 (Clive, 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 Iowa dates from 2005-02-04 (Carter Lake, City of). 141 of these communities do not participate in the NFIP; 141 carry a sanction, 13 coded as a suspension and 0 as a withdrawal.
| CRS class | Communities |
|---|---|
| 4 | 1 |
| 5 | 2 |
| 6 | 2 |
| 7 | 5 |
| 8 | 1 |
| 9 | 4 |
Questions about flood insurance in Iowa
How much is flood insurance in Iowa?
NFIP policyholders in Iowa paid a median of $1,025 for residential policies effective 2025 (6,561 policies; FEMA field policyCost: premium, reserve fund assessment, federal policy fee and HFIAA surcharge); half paid between $720 and $1,324; $1,061 inside the Special Flood Hazard Area against $984 outside it: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote.
How many flood insurance claims has Iowa had?
1,797 NFIP building claims were paid (year of loss 2015-2024), with a median of $12,595; the year with the most was 2016 (539), and the named event with the most was March 2019 Midwest Flooding (291). These are amounts paid, not repair cost.
Is Iowa in a flood zone?
Of the residential NFIP policies of Iowa (policies effective 2025), 4,208 are rated inside the Special Flood Hazard Area and 2,353 outside it (zones listed: AE, X, A, AH), 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).