Washington
flood insurance data
- Of the 12,837 owner registrations FEMA inspected in Washington after disasters of every declared type, 6.2% show more than $30,000 of FEMA-inspected damage, against 2.6% nationally. The disaster with the most inspections is DR-1734, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (declared 2007-12-08), with 5,284.
- The median paid claim, $16,051, is 56.9% below the national median of the same years ($37,248), the 20th highest of 51 States and territories.
- Residential NFIP policies counted by FEMA fell 21.0% between 2019 (29,138) and 2025 (23,031); the first year, 2019, has the highest count of the 7.
- Of the 6 zones listed (AE, X, AO, A, VE, AH), zone AH has the highest median premium ($1,384) and zone VE the lowest ($821). Coastal high-hazard zone VE is listed, with 584 policies.
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 Washington
NFIP premiums: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote. Across 23,031 policies (policies effective 2025; occupancy: residential (occupancyType 1,2,3,11,12,13,14); amount: FEMA field policyCost), the median is $1,049, and half of them fall between $748 (Q1) and $1,350 (Q3).
With 23,031 residential NFIP policies effective 2025, Washington has the 16th most of 53 States and territories. Inside the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), the median premium in Washington is $1,060, 6.6% higher than outside it ($994); most of its zoned policies sit inside the SFHA (69.7%).
| Flood zone group | Policies | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFHA (A, AE, AH, AO, AR, A99, V, VE) | 16,043 | $792 | $1,060 | $1,542 |
| Outside SFHA (X, B, C) | 6,972 | $621 | $994 | $1,173 |
By flood zone
| Flood zone | Policies | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AE | 12,364 | $800 | $1,076 | $1,555 |
| X | 6,972 | $621 | $994 | $1,173 |
| AO | 1,542 | $755 | $971 | $1,346 |
| A | 1,299 | $866 | $1,132 | $1,641 |
| VE | 584 | $645 | $821 | $1,131 |
| AH | 254 | $902 | $1,384 | $2,117 |
Policies in force by year
| Year | Policies |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 29,138 |
| 2020 | 28,712 |
| 2021 | 27,978 |
| 2022 | 26,483 |
| 2023 | 24,696 |
| 2024 | 23,850 |
| 2025 | 23,031 |
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 23,031 policies.
NFIP paid building claims in Washington
NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: year of loss 2015-2024; 1,840 paid claims; median $16,051, half of them between $6,620 (Q1) and $40,501 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $18,806, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.
The paid claims are spread over the years (year of loss 2015-2024): the busiest, 2015, holds 29.4% of them.
Paid claims by year of loss
| Year of loss | Paid claims |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 541 |
| 2016 | 94 |
| 2017 | 66 |
| 2018 | 40 |
| 2019 | 39 |
| 2020 | 192 |
| 2021 | 394 |
| 2022 | 419 |
| 2023 | 41 |
| 2024 | 14 |
FEMA disaster declarations
Since 2000: 24 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) covering Washington, 23 of them major disaster declarations.
| Incident type | Declarations |
|---|---|
| Flood | 9 |
| Hurricane | 0 |
| Severe Storm | 15 |
Latest declarations
- DR-4906: SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (Flood, 2026-04-07)
- EM-3629: SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (Flood, 2025-12-12)
- DR-4775: SEVERE WINTER STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (Severe Storm, 2024-04-28)
- DR-4682: SEVERE WINTER STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (Severe Storm, 2023-01-12)
- DR-4650: SEVERE WINTER STORMS, SNOWSTORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING (Flood, 2022-03-29)
FEMA assistance to homeowners
Since 2002: 12,837 owner registrations inspected by FEMA in Washington 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 | 2,144 |
| $1-$10,000 | 8,046 |
| $10,001-$20,000 | 1,144 |
| $20,001-$30,000 | 712 |
| More than $30,000 | 791 |
Disasters with the most inspections
- DR-1734, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (declared 2007-12-08): 5,284 inspections
- DR-1817, SEVERE WINTER STORM, LANDSLIDES, MUDSLIDES, AND FLOODING (declared 2009-01-30): 2,545 inspections
- DR-1671, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (declared 2006-12-12): 1,384 inspections
- DR-4906, SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (declared 2026-04-07): 1,382 inspections
- DR-4635, SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES (declared 2022-01-05): 1,165 inspections
NFIP communities and flood maps
FEMA’s Community Status Book lists 311 NFIP communities in Washington: 292 participate in the NFIP and 37 (11.9%) are classed in the Community Rating System (CRS). The best class among the communities counted here is 2 (King County*, Pierce County*, Thurston County *): 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 Washington dates from 1975-08-22 (Elmer City, Town of). 19 of these communities do not participate in the NFIP; 19 carry a sanction, 6 coded as a suspension and 0 as a withdrawal.
| CRS class | Communities |
|---|---|
| 2 | 3 |
| 5 | 14 |
| 6 | 9 |
| 7 | 2 |
| 8 | 3 |
| 10 | 6 |
Questions about flood insurance in Washington
How much is flood insurance in Washington?
NFIP policyholders in Washington paid a median of $1,049 for residential policies effective 2025 (23,031 policies; FEMA field policyCost: premium, reserve fund assessment, federal policy fee and HFIAA surcharge); half paid between $748 and $1,350; $1,060 inside the Special Flood Hazard Area against $994 outside it: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote.
How many flood insurance claims has Washington had?
1,840 NFIP building claims were paid (year of loss 2015-2024), with a median of $16,051; the year with the most was 2015 (541). These are amounts paid, not repair cost.
Is Washington in a flood zone?
Of the residential NFIP policies of Washington (policies effective 2025), 16,043 are rated inside the Special Flood Hazard Area and 6,972 outside it (zones listed: AE, X, AO, A, VE, AH), 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; 16 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): Chehalis Indian Reservation (no match, 2 inspected); Lummi Indian Reservation (no match, 5 inspected); Muckleshoot Indian Reservation (no match, 2 inspected); Nooksack Indian Reservation (no match, 2 inspected); Puyallup Indian Reservation (no match, 10 inspected); Quileute Indian Reservation (no match, 2 inspected); Quinault Indian Reservation (no match, 1 inspected); Samish (TDSA) (no match, 1 inspected); Sauk-Suiattle Indian Reservation (no match, 2 inspected); Snoqualmie Indian Reservation (no match, 3 inspected); Squaxin Island Indian Reservation (no match, 1 inspected); Stillaguamish Indian Reservation (no match, 2 inspected); Swinomish Indian Reservation (no match, 3 inspected); Tulalip Indian Reservation (no match, 3 inspected); Upper Skagit Indian Reservation (no match, 4 inspected); Yakama Reservation (no match, 21 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).