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 densityTexas95.36% of housing units · 11,338,507 policies
Lowest NFIP densityWashington— of housing units · — 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 Texas 11,338,507 11,890,808 95.36% 3.47% Relatively High Relatively Moderate —
2 Mississippi 1,122,070 1,332,811 84.19% 5.73% Relatively Low Relatively Moderate —
3 North Dakota 197,006 374,866 52.55% 6.75% Relatively Low Not Applicable —
4 Hawaii 291,328 564,905 51.57% 2.14% Relatively Moderate Relatively Low —
5 Virginia 1,634,889 3,654,784 44.73% 3.09% Relatively Moderate Relatively Moderate —
6 West Virginia 279,756 859,653 32.54% 9.95% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
7 New York 2,655,006 8,539,536 31.09% 6.60% Relatively High Relatively High —
8 Alabama 680,234 2,316,192 29.37% 6.60% Relatively Moderate Relatively Moderate —
9 Massachusetts 805,312 3,014,657 26.71% 4.39% Relatively Moderate Relatively High —
10 Nebraska 181,585 855,631 21.22% 3.34% Relatively Low Not Applicable —
11 Iowa 231,801 1,427,175 16.24% 6.36% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
12 Nevada 205,457 1,307,338 15.72% 0.95% Relatively Low Not Applicable —
13 Tennessee 485,225 3,095,472 15.68% 3.64% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
14 Oklahoma 244,822 1,763,036 13.89% 5.30% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
15 Wyoming 37,038 275,131 13.46% 1.51% Relatively Low Not Applicable —
16 Missouri 371,279 2,809,501 13.22% 13.80% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
17 Colorado 305,230 2,545,124 11.99% 1.89% Relatively Moderate Not Applicable —
18 Wisconsin 237,870 2,750,750 8.65% 3.98% Relatively Moderate Very Low —
19 Minnesota 180,682 2,519,538 7.17% 6.90% Relatively Moderate Very Low —
20 California — 14,532,683 — — Very High Relatively High —
21 Idaho — 776,683 — — Relatively Low Not Applicable —
22 Indiana — 2,953,344 — — Relatively Moderate Very Low —
23 Maryland — 2,545,532 — — Relatively Low Relatively Moderate —
24 Ohio — 5,271,573 — — Relatively High Very Low —
25 Rhode Island — 484,615 — — Relatively Low Relatively Low —
26 Utah — 1,193,082 — — Relatively Low No Expected Annual Losses —
27 Washington — 3,262,667 — — Relatively Moderate Relatively High —

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.