Flood Insurance in Florida: What It Costs by County, Flood Zone and Buyer Type

The median homeowner in Florida pays $984 per year, or $82 per month, for a federal policy from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), meaning that about half the population pays below that rate and half pays above. The average cost of a policy is $1,383 per year because particularly high-risk properties in Florida have exceptionally high rates.

Going just by the overall numbers, Florida doesn't seem that expensive. Its average cost is only the 11th most expensive of 50 states, and its median is actually cheaper than the 50 state average. This counterintuitive finding is driven by the fact that large populations live in areas outside of flood zones and that the state benefits from community rating discounts.

Flood insurance is more expensive than average than other states. Its average cost per year of $1,383 makes it the 11th most expensive, but given the state's risks that ranking is probably not as poor as conventional wisdom would suggest. There are several reasons Florida's average doesn't seem overly expensive.

One reason is that Florida is a large state with a combination of high- and low-risk flood areas. MoneyGeek found that 37% of its policies are in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. These counties touch the coast, but about 78% of the policies are more than 5 miles inland.

Another reason is that Florida flood communities often earn bigger flood insurance discounts. The NFIP has a Community Rating System (CRS) that incentivizes voluntary management of flood risk, so communities can get discounts on their policies if they take measures to mitigate flood risks. MoneyGeek analyzed a sample of policies in Florida against the rest of the country and found that 97% of Florida policies are in a community that earns a discount versus 63% in the rest of the country.

Florida's reasonably strong affordability rankings in flood insurance are not because the state has low risk, but rather because it's a big state with a wide spectrum of risk levels that has taken active steps to mitigate its flood risks in high-risk communities. But risky areas are still expensive: one in eight Florida policies cost $2,500 per year or more.

The costs of flood insurance for Floridians aren't evenly distributed across households. In fact over 50% of households pay less than $1,000 per year and over 33% of households pay under $750 per year, so large shares of the population are paying much less than the average cost. Certain risky households drive up average rates, with about 12% paying $2,500 or more and about 3% being charged an eye-watering $5,000 plus per year.

There are two main reasons for this distribution: location and flood zones. MoneyGeek found that a policy's ZIP predicts about 54% of its change in pricing, with the most expensive policies in the Gulf Coast and the Keys. A secondary cause is flood zones: a homeowner can be in a high-risk county but still have affordable flood insurance if they are in a low-risk flood zone within that county. 97% of policies that cost $2,500 or more are in those zones labeled as "A" or "V" by FEMA, which are high-risk flood zones.

A flood insurance bill has four parts that add up to policyholders' total cost: a premium, a reserve fund assessment, a federal policy fee and a federal surcharge. The premium represents the vast majority of the cost, but the other fees are not insignificant. In the case of a median Florida policy these individual parts add up as follows:

• Total median cost: $984 per year
• Premium: $773 per year. By far the largest part of the cost and acts as a premium does with other insurance policies. The median policyholder pays $773 per year for the right to be covered by the NFIP when they have a legitimate claim for flood damage.
• Reserve Fund Assessment: $139 per year. An extra charge on every policy that helps pay losses incurred by the NFIP and expenses like reinsurance.
• Federal Policy Fee: $47 per year. Contributes to NFIP administrative expenses.
• HFIAA Surcharge: $25 per year. This helps the NFIP provide targeted assistance to policies that need subsidies due to affordability concerns.

Location is the most important factor in determining the cost of a flood insurance policy, and the more specifically you define location will give you a better sense of how much a policy is likely to cost. MoneyGeek analyzed flood insurance costs in Florida by county, city and ZIP code. We found that the median costs of flood insurance can range from $555 per year to $1,568 per year depending on the county, from $565 to $2,087 per year in the most populous cities and from $384 to $4,701 per year depending on ZIP code.

Some counties in Florida have a much higher flood risk than others, resulting in higher flood insurance costs. MoneyGeek analyzed the 48 counties in our dataset with at least 300 policies in force and found that Highlands, Sumter and Marion have the lowest median costs per year, ranging from $555 to $594. Charlotte, Monroe and Lee counties are the most expensive on average, with median costs ranging from $1,977 per year to $1,676 per year.

Counties with at least 300 policies. An asterisk (*) marks counties with fewer than 1,000 policies, where the median cost is less certain. Single-family owner-occupied NFIP policies, Sept. 1, 2026.

These large differences in cost aren't due to any regulations or laws at a county-level but rather come from the risk of flood damage of areas within those counties. In the expensive counties of Charlotte, Monroe and Lee, 80% to 95% of policies are in high-risk zones as defined by FEMA. In Sumter, Marion, St. Lucie and Orange the share of policies in high-risk zones ranges from 18% to 62%. The bigger share of a county designated as high-risk flood zones, the more expensive it will be on average.

Of the 12 most populous cities in Florida, the most expensive for flood insurance is St. Petersburg ($2,087 median cost per year) and cheapest is Hialeah ($565). The 12 cities show a wide range of costs, with half of them costing $1,000 per year and half of them costing more.

The 12 cities with the most policies in our data (about 19% of Florida policies in this group). Policies in unincorporated areas are in the county table. Single-family owner-occupied NFIP policies, Sept. 1, 2026.

Akin to the county analysis, a city's overall cost is determined by how much of the city is in high-risk zones. The highest cost cities (St. Petersburg and Cape Coral) are on the Gulf Coast where 81 to 85% of policies are in high-risk zones. The lowest-cost cities (Hialeah, Miramar, Pembroke Pines and Miami Gardens) tend to be miles inland from the shore, away from high-risk zones.

The price of a flood insurance policy largely depends on three factors any homeowner can look up themselves: their flood zone, specific details about their home and the coverage level chosen for the policy. Since 2021 FEMA and the NFIP have priced homes individually, so two homes in the same area could have different pricing.

FEMA has a variety of different flood zone definitions but they can largely be grouped into:

• Low-risk flood zones with the risk of a flood in any given year to be 1 in 500. The zones are represented by letters X, B and C.
• High-risk flood zones in which the risk of a flood in any given year is 1 in 100. These zones have many classification codes but begin with the letter A.
• Coastal high-risk areas which can be even more hazardous than letter A zones because of the risk of wave damage. These zones begin with the letter V.

The lower-risk flood zones have a median cost of $793 per year, high-risk flood zones have a median cost of $1,110 per year and coastal high-risk areas have a median cost of $2,482 per year. The vast majority of flood insurance policies (61%) are in A zones because mortgage-backed homes in the zones are federally required to purchase flood insurance, while the decision of whether or not to purchase is optional in lower-risk zones.

Since 2021, FEMA has priced flood insurance based on not just its flood zone but also details about the home itself. Those details may include how close the home is to water, how high its lowest floor is compared to an expected flood height, the type of foundation used in its construction, the cost to rebuild the home and the type of flooding (river overflow, storm surge, heavy rain) that may occur in that area.

Practically speaking, how much building coverage a homeowner buys for flood insurance can have a major factor. Those who buy less than $100,000 in coverage (meaning they'll be covered for up to $100,000 in flood damage to the structure of their home) pay a median annual cost of $575. Those who buy the full $250,000 pay $1,022 per year.

In reality, 85% of Florida flood insurance buyers opt for, or are required to buy, the full $250,000 in building coverage. The main reason is that mortgage-backed homes typically require flood insurance coverage equal to the loan amount or the NFIP full $250,000, whichever is less. Any homeowner taking out a mortgage in a higher-risk flood area likely has a requirement to purchase the full amount or may simply opt to buy the full number as added protection against flood damage, which isn't covered by homeowners insurance.

Not all homes are paying the actual estimated cost of flood insurance in Florida, what FEMA calls the full-risk rate. In 2021 FEMA altered its pricing so that homes will pay for their individual flood risk, but many homes kept their grandfathered rates from before this regulation exists. These homes cannot jump to the full-risk rate immediately, so rate raises are capped at 18% per year. But given that 45% of Florida policies are still below the full risk rate, many homeowners can expect to see 18% rate raises per year in the coming years.

Congress set the 18% limit on flood insurance rate increases in 2014 to keep yearly changes in flood insurance rates affordable. This annual increase cap, along with Pre-FIRM discounts for older homes or some other form of discount are the main reasons 45% of Florida policies are still below their full-risk rate. If you are one of these homeowners, it's important to always renew your flood insurance policy as a lapse in the policy can reset your grandfathered rate. Here's how those rate raises may work with a practical example:

• Let's say a Florida homeowner is currently paying $700 for flood insurance, but its full risk rate is $1,400.
• The next year, this homeowner would pay $826, an 18% increase.
• That 18% increase would continue each year ($975, $1,150, etc.) until the price reaches the full-risk rate. This assumes that the full-risk rate remains $1,400; any increase in that full-risk rate would mean that policy rates would have to keep increasing to catch up.

54% of Florida policies are already paying the full-risk rate, but 45% are below that rate and will continue seeing 18% rate increases until the rate is matched. New homeowners purchasing a new flood insurance policy will pay the full-risk rate, so many of those who are below that benchmark are existing homeowners or homebuyers who have taken over an existing policy. The GAO estimated in 2023 that it will take until 2037 for 95% of the NFIP policies nationwide to reach the full risk rate.

Homebuyers who are purchasing an existing home with flood insurance should ensure they can get a take-over policy from the previous homeowner so that they're grandfathered into lower rates, rather than paying the full risk rate upon assuming control of the new home.

Flood insurance is complicated. Common question topics range from cost to the necessity of actually buying a policy.