Flood Insurance Coverage Gap by State

Standard homeowners insurance excludes flood. NFIP policies are the only line that covers it for most U.S. homeowners. This page composites NFIP policies-per-housing-unit against FEMA flood / coastal flood hazard ratings to flag the coverage gap — high-hazard states with low NFIP density. That gap is where the next storm's uninsured-loss headline comes from.

Highest NFIP densityLouisiana397.28% of housing units · 8,319,150 policies
Lowest NFIP densityUtah5.64% of housing units · 67,288 policies
Coverage-gap states0flagged: high flood hazard + under-10% NFIP density

States ranked by NFIP policy density

Density = NFIP policies in force ÷ total housing units in state. Cross-reference with the flood and coastal-flood hazard columns to find the gap. A "Very High" hazard with under-5% density is structural underinsurance.

#StateNFIP PoliciesHousing UnitsDensityClaim RatioFlood HazardCoastal FloodGap?
1 Louisiana 8,319,150 2,094,002 397.28% 5.83% Relatively Moderate Relatively High —
2 Florida 22,021,310 10,082,356 218.41% 2.04% Relatively High Very High —
3 South Carolina 2,673,670 2,401,638 111.33% 1.86% Relatively Moderate Relatively High —
4 Texas 11,399,594 11,890,808 95.87% 3.45% Relatively High Relatively Moderate —
5 Mississippi 1,126,858 1,332,811 84.55% 5.70% Relatively Low Relatively Moderate —
6 New Jersey 2,878,555 3,775,842 76.24% 7.02% Relatively High Very High —
7 Delaware 348,394 457,958 76.08% 1.82% Relatively Low Relatively Moderate —
8 North Dakota 197,363 374,866 52.65% 6.74% Relatively Low Not Applicable —
9 Hawaii 292,502 564,905 51.78% 2.14% Relatively Moderate Relatively Low —
10 North Carolina 2,168,570 4,815,195 45.04% 5.05% Relatively High Relatively Moderate —
11 Virginia 1,641,928 3,654,784 44.93% 3.08% Relatively Moderate Relatively Moderate —
12 Rhode Island 208,643 484,615 43.05% 3.37% Relatively Low Relatively Low —
13 Connecticut 523,039 1,536,049 34.05% 5.63% Relatively Moderate Relatively Moderate —
14 West Virginia 280,549 859,653 32.64% 9.92% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
15 Georgia 1,439,934 4,483,873 32.11% 1.70% Relatively Moderate Relatively Moderate —
16 New York 2,664,947 8,539,536 31.21% 6.58% Relatively High Relatively High —
17 Maryland 752,812 2,545,532 29.57% 3.37% Relatively Low Relatively Moderate —
18 Alabama 683,137 2,316,192 29.49% 6.57% Relatively Moderate Relatively Moderate —
19 California 3,914,408 14,532,683 26.94% 1.37% Very High Relatively High —
20 Massachusetts 808,463 3,014,657 26.82% 4.37% Relatively Moderate Relatively High —
21 New Mexico 246,917 949,524 26.00% 0.78% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
22 Oregon 465,564 1,838,631 25.32% 1.31% Relatively Moderate Relatively Moderate —
23 Nebraska 182,307 855,631 21.31% 3.33% Relatively Low Not Applicable —
24 Arkansas 290,404 1,382,664 21.00% 3.53% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
25 Washington 654,968 3,262,667 20.07% 2.45% Relatively Moderate Relatively High —
26 Vermont 65,799 337,072 19.52% 5.66% Relatively Low Not Applicable —
27 South Dakota 75,870 402,364 18.86% 5.29% Relatively Low Not Applicable —
28 Maine 139,028 746,552 18.62% 4.08% Relatively Low Relatively Moderate —
29 Kentucky 369,496 2,010,655 18.38% 7.54% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
30 New Hampshire 116,730 644,253 18.12% 3.79% Relatively Low Relatively Moderate —
31 Pennsylvania 980,894 5,779,663 16.97% 7.84% Relatively High Relatively Low —
32 Montana 86,970 522,939 16.63% 2.55% Relatively Low Not Applicable —
33 Iowa 232,568 1,427,175 16.30% 6.34% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
34 Arizona 511,811 3,142,443 16.29% 1.04% Relatively High Not Applicable —
35 Nevada 206,185 1,307,338 15.77% 0.95% Relatively Low Not Applicable —
36 Tennessee 487,257 3,095,472 15.74% 3.62% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
37 Alaska 46,858 327,610 14.30% 1.72% Very Low Very Low —
38 Indiana 421,284 2,953,344 14.26% 4.58% Relatively Moderate Very Low —
39 Kansas 181,495 1,285,221 14.12% 4.33% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
40 Oklahoma 245,671 1,763,036 13.93% 5.28% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
41 Wyoming 37,038 275,131 13.46% 1.51% Relatively Low Not Applicable —
42 Idaho 103,685 776,683 13.35% 1.07% Relatively Low Not Applicable —
43 Missouri 372,526 2,809,501 13.26% 13.76% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
44 Colorado 306,576 2,545,124 12.05% 1.88% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
45 Illinois 627,257 5,443,501 11.52% 8.41% Relatively High Very Low —
46 Ohio 566,979 5,271,573 10.76% 4.97% Relatively High Very Low —
47 Wisconsin 238,801 2,750,750 8.68% 3.98% Relatively Moderate Very Low —
48 Michigan 380,845 4,599,683 8.28% 3.92% Relatively Moderate Very Low —
49 Minnesota 181,194 2,519,538 7.19% 6.88% Relatively Moderate Very Low —
50 Utah 67,288 1,193,082 5.64% 1.79% Relatively Low No Expected Annual Losses —

Method

  • Density = NFIP policies / total housing units. Total housing units from ACS B25001. Density above 30% indicates a culture of flood preparedness; under 5% with high hazard is the underinsured gap.
  • Gap flag fires when a state has at least one flood-related FEMA NRI hazard at "Very High" or "Relatively High" AND policy density is under 10%.
  • Claim ratio = total NFIP claims / total NFIP policies in force. Higher ratio = more frequent flood loss events relative to coverage.
  • NFIP doesn't cover everything. Standard NFIP caps at $250k structure + $100k contents. Replacement value over those caps requires excess flood policies (Lloyd's, Neptune, etc.).

Sources: FEMA NFIP, FEMA National Risk Index, U.S. Census ACS B25001.