Kentucky
flood insurance data

NFIP premiums in Kentucky

NFIP premiums: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote. Across 13,425 policies (policies effective 2025; occupancy: residential (occupancyType 1,2,3,11,12,13,14); amount: FEMA field policyCost), the median is $1,168, and half of them fall between $838 (Q1) and $1,748 (Q3).

Inside the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), the median premium in Kentucky is $1,259, 28.7% higher than outside it ($978); most of its zoned policies sit inside the SFHA (79.9%). Of the 3 zones listed (AE, X, A), zone A has the highest median premium ($1,347) and zone X the lowest ($978). No coastal V or VE zone is listed. The median NFIP premium in Kentucky, $1,168, is 10.7% above the national median ($1,055); it is the 12th highest 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 13,425 policies.

NFIP paid building claims in Kentucky

NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: year of loss 2015-2024; 3,667 paid claims; median $14,276, half of them between $5,613 (Q1) and $34,009 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $17,348, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.

With 3,667 paid claims (year of loss 2015-2024), Kentucky has the 16th most of 53 States and territories. The paid claims are spread over the years (year of loss 2015-2024): the busiest, 2015, holds 27.9% of them. Named events weigh little on the paid claims in Kentucky: the largest, Late July Flooding, accounts for 11.2% of them.

Paid claims by year of loss

FEMA disaster declarations

Since 2000: 44 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) covering Kentucky, 41 of them major disaster declarations.

Latest declarations

• DR-4937: SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (Severe Storm, 2026-09-01)
• DR-4875: SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES (Severe Storm, 2025-05-23)
• DR-4864: SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (Severe Storm, 2025-04-24)
• EM-3626: SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING (Severe Storm, 2025-04-03)
• DR-4860: SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (Severe Storm, 2025-02-24)

FEMA assistance to homeowners

Since 2002: 68,268 owner registrations inspected by FEMA in Kentucky 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-4663, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (declared 2022-07-29): 9,890 inspections
• DR-4860, SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (declared 2025-02-24): 7,830 inspections
• DR-1523, SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES (declared 2004-06-10): 7,581 inspections
• DR-1855, SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND FLOODING (declared 2009-08-14): 6,027 inspections
• DR-1912, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUDSLIDES, AND TORNADOES (declared 2010-05-11): 5,159 inspections

NFIP communities and flood maps

FEMA’s Community Status Book lists 418 NFIP communities in Kentucky: 360 participate in the NFIP and 43 (10.3%) are classed in the Community Rating System (CRS). The best class among the communities counted here is 3 (METRO. GOVT. of Louisville and Jefferson County): 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 Kentucky dates from 2006-08-02 (Vicco, City of). 58 of these communities do not participate in the NFIP; 58 carry a sanction, 3 coded as a suspension and 0 as a withdrawal.

Questions about flood insurance in Kentucky

How much is flood insurance in Kentucky?

NFIP policyholders in Kentucky paid a median of $1,168 for residential policies effective 2025 (13,425 policies; FEMA field policyCost: premium, reserve fund assessment, federal policy fee and HFIAA surcharge); half paid between $838 and $1,748; $1,259 inside the Special Flood Hazard Area against $978 outside it: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote.

How many flood insurance claims has Kentucky had?

3,667 NFIP building claims were paid (year of loss 2015-2024), with a median of $14,276; the year with the most was 2015 (1,024), and the named event with the most was Late July Flooding (411). These are amounts paid, not repair cost.

Is Kentucky in a flood zone?

Of the residential NFIP policies of Kentucky (policies effective 2025), 10,727 are rated inside the Special Flood Hazard Area and 2,698 outside it (zones listed: AE, X, A), 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).