Rhode Island
flood insurance data
- Inside the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), the median premium in Rhode Island is $1,397, 54.0% higher than outside it ($907); most of its zoned policies sit inside the SFHA (65.6%).
- The median paid claim, $11,952, is 67.9% below the national median of the same years ($37,248), the 16th lowest of 51 States and territories.
- Of the 25,977 owner registrations FEMA inspected in Rhode Island after disasters of every declared type, 0.2% show more than $30,000 of FEMA-inspected damage, against 2.6% nationally. The disaster with the most inspections is DR-1894, SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (declared 2010-03-29), with 20,748.
- Rhode Island counts 14 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) since 2000, the 9th fewest of 53 States and territories. Severe Storm declarations are the most frequent (8), ahead of Hurricane (6).
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 Rhode Island
NFIP premiums: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote. Across 8,208 policies (policies effective 2025; occupancy: residential (occupancyType 1,2,3,11,12,13,14); amount: FEMA field policyCost), the median is $1,195, and half of them fall between $873 (Q1) and $1,637 (Q3).
Of the 3 zones listed (AE, X, VE), zone VE has the highest median premium ($1,601) and zone X the lowest ($907). Coastal high-hazard zone VE is listed, with 950 policies. Residential NFIP policies counted by FEMA fell 16.0% between 2019 (9,775) and 2025 (8,208); the first year, 2019, has the highest count of the 7. The median NFIP premium in Rhode Island, $1,195, is 13.3% above the national median ($1,055); it is the 11th highest of 53 States and territories. With 8,208 residential NFIP policies effective 2025, Rhode Island has the 20th fewest of 53 States and territories.
| Flood zone group | Policies | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFHA (A, AE, AH, AO, AR, A99, V, VE) | 5,384 | $1,040 | $1,397 | $1,863 |
| Outside SFHA (X, B, C) | 2,824 | $652 | $907 | $1,186 |
By flood zone
| Flood zone | Policies | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AE | 4,331 | $1,033 | $1,373 | $1,783 |
| X | 2,824 | $652 | $907 | $1,186 |
| VE | 950 | $1,156 | $1,601 | $2,215 |
Policies in force by year
| Year | Policies |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 9,775 |
| 2020 | 9,213 |
| 2021 | 8,846 |
| 2022 | 8,472 |
| 2023 | 8,272 |
| 2024 | 8,364 |
| 2025 | 8,208 |
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 8,208 policies.
NFIP paid building claims in Rhode Island
NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: year of loss 2015-2024; 350 paid claims; median $11,952, half of them between $4,647 (Q1) and $32,503 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $13,106, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.
With 350 paid claims (year of loss 2015-2024), Rhode Island has the 11th fewest of 53 States and territories. The paid claims are spread over the years (year of loss 2015-2024): the busiest, 2024, holds 31.4% of them. Named events weigh little on the paid claims in Rhode Island: the largest, December Nor'easter, accounts for 16.3% of them.
| Event | Paid claims | Share |
|---|---|---|
| December Nor'easter | 57 | 16.3% |
| Hurricane Ida | 44 | 12.6% |
| Hurricane Elsa | 2 | 0.6% |
Paid claims by year of loss
| Year of loss | Paid claims |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 8 |
| 2016 | 1 |
| 2017 | 4 |
| 2018 | 37 |
| 2019 | 2 |
| 2020 | 12 |
| 2021 | 48 |
| 2022 | 38 |
| 2023 | 90 |
| 2024 | 110 |
FEMA disaster declarations
Since 2000: 14 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) covering Rhode Island, 9 of them major disaster declarations.
| Incident type | Declarations |
|---|---|
| Flood | 0 |
| Hurricane | 6 |
| Severe Storm | 8 |
Latest declarations
- DR-4766: SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (Severe Storm, 2024-03-20)
- DR-4765: SEVERE STORM AND FLOODING (Severe Storm, 2024-03-20)
- DR-4753: SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES (Severe Storm, 2024-01-07)
- EM-3563: HURRICANE HENRI (Hurricane, 2021-08-21)
- DR-4212: SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM (Severe Storm, 2015-04-03)
FEMA assistance to homeowners
Since 2002: 25,977 owner registrations inspected by FEMA in Rhode Island 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 | 2,577 |
| $1-$10,000 | 22,716 |
| $10,001-$20,000 | 523 |
| $20,001-$30,000 | 110 |
| More than $30,000 | 51 |
Disasters with the most inspections
- DR-1894, SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (declared 2010-03-29): 20,748 inspections
- DR-4766, SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (declared 2024-03-20): 2,783 inspections
- DR-4765, SEVERE STORM AND FLOODING (declared 2024-03-20): 1,508 inspections
- DR-4753, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES (declared 2024-01-07): 747 inspections
- DR-4089, HURRICANE SANDY (declared 2012-11-03): 191 inspections
NFIP communities and flood maps
FEMA’s Community Status Book lists 40 NFIP communities in Rhode Island: 40 participate in the NFIP and 11 (27.5%) are classed in the Community Rating System (CRS). The best class among the communities counted here is 6 (Charlestown, Town 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 Rhode Island dates from 2013-09-04 (Jamestown, Town of).
| CRS class | Communities |
|---|---|
| 6 | 1 |
| 7 | 7 |
| 8 | 2 |
| 9 | 1 |
Questions about flood insurance in Rhode Island
How much is flood insurance in Rhode Island?
NFIP policyholders in Rhode Island paid a median of $1,195 for residential policies effective 2025 (8,208 policies; FEMA field policyCost: premium, reserve fund assessment, federal policy fee and HFIAA surcharge); half paid between $873 and $1,637; $1,397 inside the Special Flood Hazard Area against $907 outside it: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote.
How many flood insurance claims has Rhode Island had?
350 NFIP building claims were paid (year of loss 2015-2024), with a median of $11,952; the year with the most was 2024 (110), and the named event with the most was December Nor'easter (57). These are amounts paid, not repair cost.
Is Rhode Island in a flood zone?
Of the residential NFIP policies of Rhode Island (policies effective 2025), 5,384 are rated inside the Special Flood Hazard Area and 2,824 outside it (zones listed: AE, X, VE), 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 Rhode Island
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).