Montana
flood insurance data
- The median paid claim, $10,247, is 72.5% below the national median of the same years ($37,248), the 11th lowest of 51 States and territories.
- Residential NFIP policies counted by FEMA fell 27.9% between 2019 (4,462) and 2025 (3,219); the first year, 2019, has the highest count of the 7.
- With 223 paid claims (year of loss 2015-2024), Montana has the 8th fewest of 53 States and territories.
- With 3,219 residential NFIP policies effective 2025, Montana has the 8th fewest of 53 States and territories.
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 Montana
NFIP premiums: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote. Across 3,219 policies (policies effective 2025; occupancy: residential (occupancyType 1,2,3,11,12,13,14); amount: FEMA field policyCost), the median is $970, and half of them fall between $680 (Q1) and $1,309 (Q3).
Of the 3 zones listed (AE, X, A), zone A has the highest median premium ($1,241) and zone AE the lowest ($891). No coastal V or VE zone is listed. Inside the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), the median premium in Montana is $927, 14.1% lower than outside it ($1,079); most of its zoned policies sit inside the SFHA (70.7%). The median NFIP premium in Montana, $970, is 8.1% below the national median ($1,055); it is the 17th lowest of 53 States and territories.
| Flood zone group | Policies | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFHA (A, AE, AH, AO, AR, A99, V, VE) | 2,261 | $657 | $927 | $1,429 |
| Outside SFHA (X, B, C) | 935 | $778 | $1,079 | $1,205 |
By flood zone
| Flood zone | Policies | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AE | 1,895 | $642 | $891 | $1,355 |
| X | 935 | $778 | $1,079 | $1,205 |
| A | 289 | $789 | $1,241 | $2,235 |
Policies in force by year
| Year | Policies |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 4,462 |
| 2020 | 3,989 |
| 2021 | 3,786 |
| 2022 | 3,558 |
| 2023 | 3,528 |
| 2024 | 3,273 |
| 2025 | 3,219 |
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 3,219 policies.
NFIP paid building claims in Montana
NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: year of loss 2015-2024; 223 paid claims; median $10,247, half of them between $3,936 (Q1) and $34,715 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $12,229, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.
The named event with the most paid claims in Montana, Yellowstone Flooding, accounts for 39.9% of them: no single event holds a majority. Two years hold 82.5% of the paid claims (year of loss 2015-2024): 2022 with 95 and 2018 with 89.
| Event | Paid claims | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Yellowstone Flooding | 89 | 39.9% |
Paid claims by year of loss
| Year of loss | Paid claims |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 4 |
| 2016 | 4 |
| 2017 | 4 |
| 2018 | 89 |
| 2019 | 15 |
| 2020 | 2 |
| 2021 | 1 |
| 2022 | 95 |
| 2023 | 8 |
| 2024 | 1 |
FEMA disaster declarations
Since 2000: 23 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) covering Montana, 21 of them major disaster declarations.
Montana counts 23 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) since 2000, the 24th fewest of 53 States and territories. Flood and Severe Storm declarations are the most frequent (11 each), ahead of Hurricane (1).
| Incident type | Declarations |
|---|---|
| Flood | 11 |
| Hurricane | 1 |
| Severe Storm | 11 |
Latest declarations
- DR-4901: SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (Flood, 2026-04-07)
- EM-3630: SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (Flood, 2025-12-19)
- DR-4887: SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING (Flood, 2025-09-11)
- DR-4847: SEVERE STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS (Severe Storm, 2024-11-14)
- DR-4801: SEVERE WINTER STORM AND FLOODING (Severe Storm, 2024-07-18)
FEMA assistance to homeowners
Since 2002: 5,253 owner registrations inspected by FEMA in Montana after disasters of every declared type; inspected damage is FEMA’s assessment for its assistance program, not repair cost.
Of the 5,253 owner registrations FEMA inspected in Montana after disasters of every declared type, 1.5% show more than $30,000 of FEMA-inspected damage, against 2.6% nationally. The disaster with the most inspections is DR-1996, SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (declared 2011-06-17), with 2,826.
| Damage band | Registrations |
|---|---|
| No FEMA-inspected damage | 712 |
| $1-$10,000 | 3,855 |
| $10,001-$20,000 | 514 |
| $20,001-$30,000 | 93 |
| More than $30,000 | 79 |
Disasters with the most inspections
- DR-1996, SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (declared 2011-06-17): 2,826 inspections
- DR-4847, SEVERE STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS (declared 2024-11-14): 752 inspections
- DR-4915, SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS (declared 2026-05-29): 697 inspections
- DR-4655, SEVERE STORM AND FLOODING (declared 2022-06-16): 414 inspections
- DR-4914, SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS (declared 2026-05-29): 311 inspections
NFIP communities and flood maps
FEMA’s Community Status Book lists 148 NFIP communities in Montana: 136 participate in the NFIP and 13 (8.8%) are classed in the Community Rating System (CRS). The best class among the communities counted here is 6 (Great Falls, 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 Montana dates from 1974-12-27 (Winnett, Town of). 12 of these communities do not participate in the NFIP; 12 carry a sanction, 1 coded as a suspension and 2 as a withdrawal.
| CRS class | Communities |
|---|---|
| 6 | 1 |
| 7 | 4 |
| 8 | 4 |
| 9 | 1 |
| 10 | 3 |
Questions about flood insurance in Montana
How much is flood insurance in Montana?
NFIP policyholders in Montana paid a median of $970 for residential policies effective 2025 (3,219 policies; FEMA field policyCost: premium, reserve fund assessment, federal policy fee and HFIAA surcharge); half paid between $680 and $1,309; $927 inside the Special Flood Hazard Area against $1,079 outside it: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote.
How many flood insurance claims has Montana had?
223 NFIP building claims were paid (year of loss 2015-2024), with a median of $10,247; the year with the most was 2022 (95), and the named event with the most was Yellowstone Flooding (89). These are amounts paid, not repair cost.
Is Montana in a flood zone?
Of the residential NFIP policies of Montana (policies effective 2025), 2,261 are rated inside the Special Flood Hazard Area and 935 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
- 0 residential 2025 policies with policyCost <= 0 or empty are left out; 23 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): Blackfeet Indian Reservation (no match, 329 inspected); Crow Indian Reservation (no match, 1449 inspected); Fort Belknap Indian Reservation (no match, 68 inspected); Fort Peck Indian Reservation (no match, 341 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).