Pennsylvania
flood insurance data
- The median paid claim, $13,393, is 64.0% below the national median of the same years ($37,248), the 21st lowest of 51 States and territories.
- Inside the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), the median premium in Pennsylvania is $1,408, 42.2% higher than outside it ($990); most of its zoned policies sit inside the SFHA (66.3%).
- Residential NFIP policies counted by FEMA fell 24.3% between 2019 (43,175) and 2025 (32,675); the first year, 2019, has the highest count of the 7.
- With 6,814 paid claims (year of loss 2015-2024), Pennsylvania has the 8th most 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 Pennsylvania
NFIP premiums: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote. Across 32,675 policies (policies effective 2025; occupancy: residential (occupancyType 1,2,3,11,12,13,14); amount: FEMA field policyCost), the median is $1,197, and half of them fall between $854 (Q1) and $1,718 (Q3).
With 32,675 residential NFIP policies effective 2025, Pennsylvania has the 13th most of 53 States and territories. Of the 5 zones listed (AE, X, A, A99, AO), zone AE has the highest median premium ($1,456) and zone X the lowest ($990). No coastal V or VE zone is listed. The median NFIP premium in Pennsylvania, $1,197, is 13.5% above the national median ($1,055); it is the 9th highest of 53 States and territories.
| Flood zone group | Policies | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFHA (A, AE, AH, AO, AR, A99, V, VE) | 21,666 | $987 | $1,408 | $2,106 |
| Outside SFHA (X, B, C) | 11,009 | $654 | $990 | $1,198 |
By flood zone
| Flood zone | Policies | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AE | 17,556 | $1,022 | $1,456 | $2,217 |
| X | 11,009 | $654 | $990 | $1,198 |
| A | 3,646 | $883 | $1,263 | $1,724 |
| A99 | 229 | $912 | $1,117 | $1,505 |
| AO | 131 | $710 | $1,145 | $1,559 |
Policies in force by year
| Year | Policies |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 43,175 |
| 2020 | 41,686 |
| 2021 | 40,921 |
| 2022 | 37,945 |
| 2023 | 35,167 |
| 2024 | 34,127 |
| 2025 | 32,675 |
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 32,675 policies.
NFIP paid building claims in Pennsylvania
NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: year of loss 2015-2024; 6,814 paid claims; median $13,393, half of them between $5,738 (Q1) and $32,131 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $16,112, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.
The paid claims are spread over the years (year of loss 2015-2024): the busiest, 2021, holds 27.4% of them. The named event with the most paid claims in Pennsylvania, Hurricane Ida, accounts for 22.8% of them, ahead of Hurricane Isaias (13.8%): no single event holds a majority.
| Event | Paid claims | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Ida | 1,552 | 22.8% |
| Hurricane Isaias | 938 | 13.8% |
| Hurricane Debby | 135 | 2.0% |
| Tropical Storm Henri | 21 | 0.3% |
| Tropical Storm Fred | 17 | 0.2% |
Paid claims by year of loss
| Year of loss | Paid claims |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 160 |
| 2016 | 204 |
| 2017 | 406 |
| 2018 | 1,765 |
| 2019 | 562 |
| 2020 | 1,078 |
| 2021 | 1,867 |
| 2022 | 71 |
| 2023 | 220 |
| 2024 | 481 |
FEMA disaster declarations
Since 2000: 22 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) covering Pennsylvania, 17 of them major disaster declarations.
Pennsylvania counts 22 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) since 2000, the 21st fewest of 53 States and territories. Severe Storm declarations are the most frequent (12), ahead of Hurricane (7) and Flood (3).
| Incident type | Declarations |
|---|---|
| Flood | 3 |
| Hurricane | 7 |
| Severe Storm | 12 |
Latest declarations
- DR-4618: REMNANTS OF HURRICANE IDA (Hurricane, 2021-09-10)
- DR-4408: SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (Severe Storm, 2018-11-27)
- DR-4292: SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (Flood, 2016-12-02)
- DR-4149: SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING (Severe Storm, 2013-10-01)
- DR-4099: HURRICANE SANDY (Hurricane, 2013-01-10)
FEMA assistance to homeowners
Since 2002: 135,152 owner registrations inspected by FEMA in Pennsylvania after disasters of every declared type; inspected damage is FEMA’s assessment for its assistance program, not repair cost.
Of the 135,152 owner registrations FEMA inspected in Pennsylvania 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-4025, HURRICANE IRENE (declared 2011-09-03), with 31,878.
| Damage band | Registrations |
|---|---|
| No FEMA-inspected damage | 21,142 |
| $1-$10,000 | 104,541 |
| $10,001-$20,000 | 5,447 |
| $20,001-$30,000 | 1,960 |
| More than $30,000 | 2,062 |
Disasters with the most inspections
- DR-4025, HURRICANE IRENE (declared 2011-09-03): 31,878 inspections
- DR-4030, TROPICAL STORM LEE (declared 2011-09-12): 30,101 inspections
- DR-4618, REMNANTS OF HURRICANE IDA (declared 2021-09-10): 27,111 inspections
- DR-1557, TROPICAL DEPRESSION IVAN (declared 2004-09-19): 24,776 inspections
- DR-1649, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES (declared 2006-06-30): 8,978 inspections
NFIP communities and flood maps
FEMA’s Community Status Book lists 2,516 NFIP communities in Pennsylvania: 2,483 participate in the NFIP and 39 (1.6%) are classed in the Community Rating System (CRS). The best class among the communities counted here is 6 (Bloomsburg, Town of and Wilkes-Barre, City of): FEMA applies its CRS discount to the full-risk premium of Regular Program NFIP policies in those communities, 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 Pennsylvania dates from 1984-09-10 (Indian Lake, Borough of). 33 of these communities do not participate in the NFIP; 33 carry a sanction, 10 coded as a suspension and 0 as a withdrawal.
| CRS class | Communities |
|---|---|
| 6 | 2 |
| 7 | 12 |
| 8 | 12 |
| 9 | 2 |
| 10 | 11 |
Questions about flood insurance in Pennsylvania
How much is flood insurance in Pennsylvania?
NFIP policyholders in Pennsylvania paid a median of $1,197 for residential policies effective 2025 (32,675 policies; FEMA field policyCost: premium, reserve fund assessment, federal policy fee and HFIAA surcharge); half paid between $854 and $1,718; $1,408 inside the Special Flood Hazard Area against $990 outside it: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote.
How many flood insurance claims has Pennsylvania had?
6,814 NFIP building claims were paid (year of loss 2015-2024), with a median of $13,393; the year with the most was 2021 (1,867), and the named event with the most was Hurricane Ida (1,552). These are amounts paid, not repair cost.
Is Pennsylvania in a flood zone?
Of the residential NFIP policies of Pennsylvania (policies effective 2025), 21,666 are rated inside the Special Flood Hazard Area and 11,009 outside it (zones listed: AE, X, A, A99, AO), but these aggregates cannot tell the flood zone of an address: FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center shows it for a given property.
Named storms with paid claims in Pennsylvania
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).