Louisiana
flood insurance data

NFIP premiums in Louisiana

NFIP premiums: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote. Across 372,030 policies (policies effective 2025; occupancy: residential (occupancyType 1,2,3,11,12,13,14); amount: FEMA field policyCost), the median is $1,079, and half of them fall between $848 (Q1) and $1,264 (Q3).

With 372,030 residential NFIP policies effective 2025, Louisiana has the 3rd most of 53 States and territories. Residential NFIP policies counted by FEMA fell 20.0% between 2019 (465,223) and 2025 (372,030); the count peaked in 2021 (473,977). Inside the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), the median premium in Louisiana is $1,141, 8.0% higher than outside it ($1,056); most of its zoned policies sit outside it (50.1%).

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 372,030 policies.

NFIP paid building claims in Louisiana

NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: year of loss 2015-2024; 57,731 paid claims; median $52,212, half of them between $16,490 (Q1) and $87,985 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $65,350, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.

The median paid claim, $52,212, is 40.2% above the national median of the same years ($37,248), the 3rd highest of 51 States and territories. 2016 alone holds 55.7% of the paid claims (year of loss 2015-2024). The named event with the most paid claims in Louisiana, Mid-summer severe storms, accounts for 47.2% of them, ahead of Hurricane Ida (17.2%): no single event holds a majority.

Paid claims by year of loss

FEMA disaster declarations

Since 2000: 44 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) covering Louisiana, 28 of them major disaster declarations.

Latest declarations

• DR-4817: HURRICANE FRANCINE (Hurricane, 2024-09-16)
• EM-3614: TROPICAL STORM FRANCINE (Hurricane, 2024-09-10)
• DR-4611: HURRICANE IDA (Hurricane, 2021-08-29)
• EM-3568: TROPICAL STORM IDA (Hurricane, 2021-08-27)
• DR-4606: SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING (Flood, 2021-06-02)

FEMA assistance to homeowners

Since 2002: 1,002,657 owner registrations inspected by FEMA in Louisiana 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-1603, HURRICANE KATRINA (declared 2005-08-29): 326,051 inspections
• DR-4611, HURRICANE IDA (declared 2021-08-29): 152,122 inspections
• DR-1607, HURRICANE RITA (declared 2005-09-24): 126,454 inspections
• DR-1786, HURRICANE GUSTAV (declared 2008-09-02): 120,995 inspections
• DR-4277, SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (declared 2016-08-14): 82,573 inspections

NFIP communities and flood maps

FEMA’s Community Status Book lists 353 NFIP communities in Louisiana: 319 participate in the NFIP and 49 (13.9%) are classed in the Community Rating System (CRS). The best class among the communities counted here is 3 (Jefferson Parish*): 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 Louisiana dates from 1975-02-21 (Athens, Village of). 34 of these communities do not participate in the NFIP; 34 carry a sanction, 1 coded as a suspension and 0 as a withdrawal.

Questions about flood insurance in Louisiana

How much is flood insurance in Louisiana?

NFIP policyholders in Louisiana paid a median of $1,079 for residential policies effective 2025 (372,030 policies; FEMA field policyCost: premium, reserve fund assessment, federal policy fee and HFIAA surcharge); half paid between $848 and $1,264; $1,141 inside the Special Flood Hazard Area against $1,056 outside it: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote.

How many flood insurance claims has Louisiana had?

57,731 NFIP building claims were paid (year of loss 2015-2024), with a median of $52,212; the year with the most was 2016 (32,165), and the named event with the most was Mid-summer severe storms (27,236). These are amounts paid, not repair cost.

Is Louisiana in a flood zone?

Of the residential NFIP policies of Louisiana (policies effective 2025), 185,563 are rated inside the Special Flood Hazard Area and 186,464 outside it (zones listed: X, AE, A, A99, AH, VE, AO), 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 Louisiana

• East Baton Rouge Parish
• Jefferson Parish
• Orleans Parish

Named storms with paid claims in Louisiana

• Hurricane Katrina
• Hurricane Harvey
• Hurricane Ike
• Hurricane Ida
• Hurricane Isaac
• Hurricane Rita
• Hurricane Gustav
• Hurricane Francine
• Hurricane Delta
• Hurricane Zeta
• Tropical Storm Barry
• Hurricane Laura

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).