Virginia
flood insurance data

NFIP premiums in Virginia

NFIP premiums: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote. Across 72,128 policies (policies effective 2025; occupancy: residential (occupancyType 1,2,3,11,12,13,14); amount: FEMA field policyCost), the median is $804, and half of them fall between $580 (Q1) and $1,149 (Q3).

Residential NFIP policies counted by FEMA fell 21.3% between 2019 (91,633) and 2025 (72,128); the first year, 2019, has the highest count of the 7. The median NFIP premium in Virginia, $804, is 23.8% below the national median ($1,055); it is the 7th lowest of 53 States and territories. With 72,128 residential NFIP policies effective 2025, Virginia has the 9th most 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 72,128 policies.

NFIP paid building claims in Virginia

NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: year of loss 2015-2024; 4,509 paid claims; median $13,201, half of them between $4,940 (Q1) and $33,470 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $16,567, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.

2016 alone holds 50.5% of the paid claims (year of loss 2015-2024). The named event with the most paid claims in Virginia, Hurricane Matthew, accounts for 43.3% of them, ahead of October severe storms (5.3%): no single event holds a majority. With 4,509 paid claims (year of loss 2015-2024), Virginia has the 12th most of 53 States and territories.

Paid claims by year of loss

FEMA disaster declarations

Since 2000: 28 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) covering Virginia, 24 of them major disaster declarations.

Virginia counts 28 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) since 2000, the 24th most of 53 States and territories. Severe Storm declarations are the most frequent (17), ahead of Hurricane (10) and Flood (1).

Latest declarations

• DR-4863: SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND FLOODING (Severe Storm, 2025-04-04)
• DR-4674: FLOODING AND MUDSLIDES (Severe Storm, 2022-09-30)
• DR-4644: SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM (Severe Storm, 2022-03-11)
• DR-4628: FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (Flood, 2021-10-26)
• DR-4411: TROPICAL STORM MICHAEL (Hurricane, 2018-12-18)

FEMA assistance to homeowners

Since 2002: 46,950 owner registrations inspected by FEMA in Virginia 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-1491, HURRICANE ISABEL (declared 2003-09-18): 28,026 inspections
• DR-4042, EARTHQUAKE (declared 2011-11-04): 7,925 inspections
• DR-1544, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING AND TORNADOES ASSOCIATED W TD GASTON (declared 2004-09-03): 2,909 inspections
• DR-4291, HURRICANE MATTHEW (declared 2016-11-02): 2,788 inspections
• DR-4831, TROPICAL STORM HELENE (declared 2024-10-01): 2,426 inspections

NFIP communities and flood maps

FEMA’s Community Status Book lists 313 NFIP communities in Virginia: 294 participate in the NFIP and 31 (9.9%) are classed in the Community Rating System (CRS). The best class among the communities counted here is 5 (Accomack County *, Fairfax County *, Gloucester County* and 3 more): 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 Virginia dates from 1995-01-05 (Haymarket, Town of). 19 of these communities do not participate in the NFIP; 19 carry a sanction, 3 coded as a suspension and 1 as a withdrawal.

Questions about flood insurance in Virginia

How much is flood insurance in Virginia?

NFIP policyholders in Virginia paid a median of $804 for residential policies effective 2025 (72,128 policies; FEMA field policyCost: premium, reserve fund assessment, federal policy fee and HFIAA surcharge); half paid between $580 and $1,149; $957 inside the Special Flood Hazard Area against $647 outside it: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote.

How many flood insurance claims has Virginia had?

4,509 NFIP building claims were paid (year of loss 2015-2024), with a median of $13,201; the year with the most was 2016 (2,278), and the named event with the most was Hurricane Matthew (1,952). These are amounts paid, not repair cost.

Is Virginia in a flood zone?

Of the residential NFIP policies of Virginia (policies effective 2025), 39,945 are rated inside the Special Flood Hazard Area and 32,183 outside it (zones listed: AE, X, A, 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 Virginia

• Virginia Beach city

Named storms with paid claims in Virginia

• Hurricane Sandy
• Hurricane Helene
• Hurricane Irene
• Hurricane Matthew
• Hurricane Michael
• Tropical Storm Ernesto

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).