New Jersey flood insurance and flood history
From FEMA's flood insurance and disaster data · Updated 2026-10-08
FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) data lists 202,340 flood insurance claims in New Jersey since 1978. The NFIP paid $6.5 billion on them (building, contents and Increased Cost of Compliance payments, in the dollars of the year paid).
The year with the most claims was 2012, with 75,727, mostly from Hurricane Sandy.
In the last ten years (2017–2026) there were 12,846 claims, and the average paid claim was $46,243.
10% of the claims with a recorded flood zone came from buildings outside FEMA's high-risk zones (rated zones B, C and X).
About 5.0% of homes in New Jersey had an NFIP flood policy in FEMA's latest count (121,462 of 2,419,797 residential buildings). In the high-risk flood zones (Special Flood Hazard Areas), it was 63% (102,277 of 161,481).
Since 2000, FEMA has made 10 flood-related disaster declarations covering parts of New Jersey. The most recent was DR-4725-NJ (Severe Storm and Flooding), declared August 11, 2023.
Flood insurance claims in New Jersey by year
Show as a table
| Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 211 | $2.2 million |
| 2025 | 869 | $32.5 million |
| 2024 | 774 | $15.6 million |
| 2023 | 1,078 | $20.5 million |
| 2022 | 320 | $4.7 million |
| 2021 | 7,768 | $367.2 million |
| 2020 | 280 | $2.6 million |
| 2019 | 443 | $6.7 million |
| 2018 | 856 | $20.1 million |
| 2017 | 247 | $3.7 million |
| 2016 | 1,682 | $27.0 million |
| 2015 | 246 | $1.6 million |
| 2014 | 729 | $7.4 million |
| 2013 | 438 | $2.5 million |
| 2012 | 75,727 | $4.4 billion |
| 2011 | 22,281 | $655.8 million |
| 2010 | 5,613 | $102.7 million |
| 2009 | 1,284 | $14.0 million |
| 2008 | 538 | $4.4 million |
| 2007 | 6,996 | $158.6 million |
| 2006 | 1,493 | $25.6 million |
| 2005 | 3,647 | $59.8 million |
| 2004 | 1,212 | $21.3 million |
| 2003 | 727 | $3.4 million |
| 2002 | 264 | $1.0 million |
| 2001 | 273 | $2.5 million |
| 2000 | 559 | $5.0 million |
| 1999 | 7,623 | $148.5 million |
| 1998 | 3,090 | $23.1 million |
| 1997 | 852 | $7.1 million |
| 1996 | 3,334 | $31.1 million |
| 1995 | 336 | $2.3 million |
| 1994 | 2,396 | $15.1 million |
| 1993 | 953 | $4.0 million |
| 1992 | 19,953 | $205.2 million |
| 1991 | 2,210 | $11.6 million |
| 1990 | 253 | $2.0 million |
| 1989 | 1,378 | $6.5 million |
| 1988 | 185 | $874,969 |
| 1987 | 1,317 | $5.3 million |
| 1986 | 281 | $1.1 million |
| 1985 | 3,575 | $17.9 million |
| 1984 | 8,887 | $56.5 million |
| 1983 | 1,704 | $4.3 million |
| 1982 | 355 | $917,437 |
| 1981 | 458 | $2.2 million |
| 1980 | 2,678 | $8.5 million |
| 1979 | 2,634 | $6.4 million |
| 1978 | 1,333 | $3.0 million |
Biggest flood events by NFIP payments
The flood events FEMA's claims data names most often for New Jersey, ranked by what the NFIP paid. FEMA names events in its claims records; claims without an event name aren't included here.
| Event | Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Sandy | 2012 | 74,983 | $4.4 billion |
| Hurricane Irene | 2011 | 18,125 | $599.5 million |
| Hurricane Ida | 2021 | 7,034 | $353.8 million |
| December Storm - Nor'easter | 1992 | 16,585 | $179.7 million |
| April 2007 Nor'easter | 2007 | 6,522 | $154.1 million |
| Hurricane Floyd | 1999 | 7,129 | $143.6 million |
| March 2010 Nor'easter | 2010 | 5,270 | $100.5 million |
| Flooding | 1984 | 8,471 | $54.9 million |
| Late winter storms | 2011 | 2,173 | $36.4 million |
| 2025 July NYC Metro Area Flooding | 2025 | 649 | $28.3 million |
Flood history by county
Every New Jersey county in FEMA's data, sorted by number of NFIP claims since 1978. "Insured" is the share of homes with an NFIP policy.
| County | Claims | Paid | Insured | Flood declarations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean County | 52,884 | $2.6 billion | 16.6% | 2 |
| Cape May County | 28,016 | $414.6 million | 40.1% | 2 |
| Atlantic County | 20,909 | $493.9 million | 14.4% | 3 |
| Monmouth County | 20,039 | $937.5 million | 7.4% | 1 |
| Bergen County | 14,477 | $432.4 million | 2.2% | 3 |
| Passaic County | 14,385 | $316.7 million | 2.2% | 3 |
| Morris County | 9,463 | $201.0 million | 1.4% | 4 |
| Union County | 7,525 | $163.8 million | 2.9% | 2 |
| Somerset County | 6,502 | $239.8 million | 1.3% | 2 |
| Essex County | 5,845 | $164.2 million | 1.9% | 3 |
| Middlesex County | 5,251 | $164.6 million | 1.2% | 2 |
| Hudson County | 5,198 | $177.3 million | 3.5% | 1 |
| Mercer County | 2,432 | $48.4 million | 1.2% | 5 |
| Burlington County | 2,180 | $29.4 million | 2.2% | 3 |
| Hunterdon County | 1,572 | $39.6 million | 1.5% | 4 |
| Camden County | 1,329 | $8.6 million | 0.9% | 2 |
| Warren County | 1,273 | $32.6 million | 1.1% | 5 |
| Salem County | 824 | $9.2 million | 7.0% | 1 |
| Cumberland County | 756 | $12.8 million | 0.9% | 2 |
| Gloucester County | 709 | $4.8 million | 0.9% | 4 |
| Sussex County | 192 | $2.0 million | 0.3% | 5 |
Flood-related FEMA disaster declarations in New Jersey
Declarations since 2000 that FEMA lists as involving flooding. "Help for individuals" means FEMA's Individual Assistance was approved for at least part of the area.
| Declaration | Declared | Event | Help for individuals |
|---|---|---|---|
| DR-4725-NJ | Aug 11, 2023 | Severe Storm and Flooding | No |
| DR-4033-NJ | Sep 15, 2011 | Severe Storms and Flooding | No |
| DR-1897-NJ | Apr 2, 2010 | Severe Storms and Flooding | Yes |
| DR-1867-NJ | Dec 22, 2009 | Severe Storms and Flooding Associated With Tropical Depression Ida and A Nor'Eas | No |
| DR-1694-NJ | Apr 26, 2007 | Severe Storms and Inland and Coastal Flooding | Yes |
| DR-1653-NJ | Jul 7, 2006 | Severe Storms and Flooding | Yes |
| DR-1588-NJ | Apr 19, 2005 | Severe Storms and Flooding | Yes |
| DR-1563-NJ | Oct 1, 2004 | Severe Storms and Flooding | Yes |
| DR-1530-NJ | Jul 16, 2004 | Severe Storms and Flooding | Yes |
| DR-1337-NJ | Aug 17, 2000 | Severe Storms, Flooding and Mudslides | Yes |
What to do with this
A county's history doesn't tell you your own building's risk. To see your property's flood zone, use FEMA's flood map lookup. To weigh coverage, start with do I need flood insurance? and what flood insurance costs.
Where these numbers come from
All figures on this page are calculated from FEMA's public OpenFEMA datasets:
- NFIP Redacted Claims (v3) (FEMA (OpenFEMA)): NFIP claims since 1978, downloaded 2026-10-08. Dollar amounts are what the NFIP paid, not adjusted for inflation. Claims filed under private flood insurance aren't included.
- NFIP Residential Penetration Rates (v1) (FEMA (OpenFEMA)): NFIP residential policy contracts in force (as of August 3, 2026) divided by FEMA's count of residential buildings from the National Structure Inventory. FEMA notes that inventory is incomplete in some counties, which can inflate the rate. Private flood policies aren't counted.
- Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2) (FEMA (OpenFEMA)): disaster declarations, downloaded 2026-10-08. We count a declaration as flood-related when FEMA lists flooding (or a dam or levee break) as its incident type or a designated incident type, or the declaration's title mentions flooding.
FEMA's redacted claims data doesn't identify properties, and FEMA notes that some records lack a county or flood zone. See how we use the data.