Over 20% of U.S. Properties at Risk for Flood Not in Designated Flood Zones

December 5, 2017

An estimated 23 percent of residential and commercial properties in the U.S. are at High or Moderate risk of flooding, based on CoreLogic proprietary flood analysis, but are outside of designated Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) as identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), according to new data analysis from CoreLogic.

Property owners living within SFHA zones must have flood insurance if there is a federally insured mortgage, while those living outside SFHA zones are not required to have flood insurance. Many property owners choose not to carry flood insurance if it is not required even though their property may still be at risk of flood.

This aerial image shows flooded areas of North Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016. Louisiana (Patrick Dennis/The Advocate via AP)

Nationally, more than 29 million properties (29,437,151), or 23 percent, are outside a designated SFHA despite being at High or Moderate risk of flooding, according to CoreLogic analysis. At the state level:

  • Florida has the highest number of properties in this category at 5,055,821, or 54 percent of total properties.
  • Texas has 3,292,082 properties, or 31 percent, and California has 3,114,462 properties, or 29 percent.
  • Looking at only the percentage of properties outside an SFHA, which are at High or Moderate risk, Arizona has the highest at 68 percent, followed by Florida at 54 percent and Louisiana at 49 percent.

Table 1 shows the number of properties, nationally and by state, at Extreme, Very High, High and Moderate CoreLogic risk levels, as well as the total number and percentage of properties in the High and Moderate risk levels that are not designated in an SFHA.

Table 1: Properties by Risk Level and SFHA Designation*

In SFHA Outside SFHA*
State Total Properties Analyzed CoreLogic Extreme Risk CoreLogic Very High Risk CoreLogic High Risk CoreLogic Moderate Risk Total High/Moderate Risk Percentage of High/Moderate Risk
AK 238,421 852 6,424 19,180 51,824 71,004 30%
AL 2,172,387 20,618 86,351 132,307 161,640 293,947 14%
AR 1,540,384 15,114 67,056 124,909 197,005 321,914 21%
AZ 2,570,456 11,608 62,476 329,250 1,417,734 1,746,984 68%
CA 10,843,791 70,290 279,883 975,557 2,138,905 3,114,462 29%
CO 2,180,540 9,136 31,703 154,403 180,628 335,031 15%
CT 1,320,354 16,242 51,395 101,135 121,313 222,448 17%
DC 200,548 133 1,559 4,494 4,059 8,553 4%
DE 404,214 1,608 25,019 34,595 58,726 93,321 23%
FL 9,323,841 193,569 1,795,261 3,050,409 2,005,412 5,055,821 54%
GA 4,084,232 34,798 131,755 211,215 276,441 487,656 12%
HI 486,793 4,909 50,989 54,298 40,284 94,582 19%
IA 1,463,671 8,468 41,688 94,169 137,843 232,012 16%
ID 716,096 4,290 23,714 58,712 80,705 139,417 19%
IL 5,077,490 33,768 100,974 534,505 761,435 1,295,940 26%
IN 3,276,733 35,545 93,022 276,697 439,237 715,934 22%
KS 1,433,596 12,647 56,539 134,421 237,515 371,936 26%
KY 2,001,576 27,949 66,682 120,389 154,834 275,223 14%
LA 1,892,439 40,190 509,639 367,554 568,459 936,013 49%
MA 2,441,192 22,454 89,225 205,316 286,402 491,718 20%
MD 2,239,344 3,741 47,746 118,871 127,316 246,187 11%
ME 773,798 7,188 26,365 59,577 66,990 126,567 16%
MI 4,706,452 12,782 106,009 361,653 523,670 885,323 19%
MN 2,225,408 9,521 39,550 151,498 220,015 371,513 17%
MO 2,594,742 26,836 66,157 101,302 153,351 254,653 10%
MS 1,202,086 37,838 86,356 136,835 169,124 305,959 25%
MT 462,731 3,385 13,461 35,630 42,398 78,028 17%
NC 4,806,039 45,121 180,524 212,379 298,236 510,615 11%
ND 255,276 1,899 12,137 42,565 59,597 102,162 40%
NE 737,483 6,118 28,083 57,186 92,525 149,711 20%
NH 667,166 4,853 23,915 51,788 54,905 106,693 16%
NJ 3,041,599 16,340 297,858 276,778 407,036 683,814 22%
NM 744,793 3,839 44,158 136,792 137,536 274,328 37%
NV 1,059,856 1,603 33,609 110,157 202,753 312,910 30%
NY 5,730,150 30,814 210,812 439,725 510,830 950,555 17%
OH 5,637,630 37,175 128,475 362,428 508,122 870,550 15%
OK 1,473,454 11,730 37,765 120,272 170,394 290,666 20%
OR 1,587,556 16,906 51,337 122,394 134,141 256,535 16%
PA 5,354,373 38,541 123,567 228,804 286,528 515,332 10%
RI 412,903 6,497 16,230 27,027 37,693 64,720 16%
SC 2,357,149 52,564 157,305 146,916 207,342 354,258 15%
SD 323,506 2,820 10,966 29,949 37,951 67,900 21%
TN 3,154,107 25,168 61,641 124,826 172,688 297,514 9%
TX 10,465,111 127,469 534,330 1,373,439 1,918,643 3,292,082 31%
UT 972,300 1,961 10,012 78,352 125,176 203,528 21%
VA 3,250,576 23,881 98,691 286,193 266,382 552,575 17%
VT 245,025 2,375 7,107 14,758 14,490 29,248 12%
WA 2,712,806 20,209 69,923 143,121 207,013 350,134 13%
WI 2,402,103 14,067 49,028 194,516 254,221 448,737 19%
WV 876,879 23,904 50,009 61,503 70,709 132,212 15%
WY 245,771 1,100 4,409 22,724 25,502 48,226 20%
Total U.S. 126,386,926* 1,182,433 6,198,889 12,613,473 16,823,678 29,437,151 23%

*Properties designated as Low or Very Low risk are included in the total property count, but are not listed separately in Table 1. Properties without an address were not included in the analysis.

Source: CoreLogic

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