Every flood zone on FEMA's maps, what it means, and whether flood insurance is required there. Paste an address below to see its zone, or a whole list to check them all at once.
Quick answer
A flood zone is the risk category FEMA gives an area on its flood maps. Zones starting with A or V are high risk: the Special Flood Hazard Area, with a 1% or greater chance of flooding each year (the "100-year floodplain"), where flood insurance is required for mortgages from federally regulated or insured lenders. V zones also face coastal waves. Zone X is moderate (shaded) or minimal (unshaded) risk, and zone D is unstudied. Zones B and C are older names for shaded and unshaded X.
| Zone | Risk | Flood insurance required? | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| AE | High | Yes | 1% annual chance floodplain with a base flood elevation from detailed study. |
| A | High | Yes | 1% annual chance floodplain mapped by approximate methods, no base flood elevation. |
| AH | High | Yes | Shallow flooding, usually ponding, 1 to 3 feet deep, with a base flood elevation. |
| AO | High | Yes | Shallow sheet flow on sloping ground, 1 to 3 feet deep; depths shown instead of elevations. |
| AR | High | Yes | Behind a flood control system (usually a levee) that is being restored. |
| A99 | High | Yes | To be protected by a federal flood protection system under construction. |
| VE, V | High (coastal) | Yes | Coastal high hazard: 1% annual chance flooding with storm waves of 3 feet or more. |
| X (shaded), B | Moderate | No | Between the 100-year and 500-year floodplains, shallow flooding under a foot, or behind a levee. |
| X (unshaded), C | Minimal | No | Above the 500-year (0.2% annual chance) flood level. |
| D | Undetermined | No | Possible flood risk that hasn't been studied. |
"Required" means for a mortgage from a federally regulated or insured lender. Any lender can ask for flood insurance in any zone.
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Together they make up the Special Flood Hazard Area: about a 26% chance of at least one flood over a 30-year mortgage. Flood insurance is required there for mortgages from federally regulated or insured lenders, and new or substantially improved buildings must be raised to the base flood elevation where one is set.
Outside the high-risk area federal law doesn't require flood insurance, though lenders can. FEMA says more than 20% of flood insurance claims come from outside the high-risk zones, often from heavy rain overwhelming local drainage.
Since Risk Rating 2.0 (new policies from October 2021, renewals from April 2022), National Flood Insurance Program premiums are priced on each property's own risk: its elevation, distance to water, the types of flooding it faces and the cost to rebuild. The zone still decides whether insurance is required and which building rules apply.
FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Maps, published digitally as the National Flood Hazard Layer. Maps are revised community by community, and a Letter of Map Change can update a single property. The checker on this page uses FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer for every state and territory.
A guide and a planning check, not an official flood zone determination: a lender's determination, or FEMA's own map, is the official answer for a single property.
What does flood zone mean?
The flood risk category FEMA gives an area on its flood maps, from high risk (A and V zones) to moderate and minimal (zone X) and undetermined (zone D).
Which flood zones are high risk?
Every zone that starts with A or V: A, AE, AH, AO, AR, A99, V and VE. Together they are the Special Flood Hazard Area.
Which flood zones require flood insurance?
The A and V zones, for mortgages from federally regulated or insured lenders. Lenders can also ask for it in other zones.
What is the safest flood zone?
Unshaded zone X (the old zone C): above the 500-year flood level. It is the lowest-risk category, though not risk-free.
What is the 100-year floodplain?
Land with a 1% or greater chance of flooding in any year. It can flood in back-to-back years; over 30 years the chance of at least one such flood is about 26%.
How do I find the flood zone for an address?
Paste it into the checker on this page: it looks the address up in FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer. It checks whole lists too, with a CSV download.