The Texas flood insurance gap, county by county

The 15 counties with the most homes in the high-risk zone

FEMA counts 113,215 homes in Harris County’s high-risk flood zone, the most of the 128 Texas counties it gives a count for, and 54,764 NFIP policies there. In 13 of the 15 counties below, the number of NFIP policies in the high-risk zone was less than half the number of homes there. Galveston County had the highest take-up rate of the 15 (66.0%) and Lubbock County the lowest (11.4%).

Flood disasters: flood-related major disaster declarations with FEMA aid to households in the county (see Method). All 254 counties are in the CSV download.

The coast and inland Texas

Take-up is higher on the coast than inland. In the 11 counties with usable data among the 14 where the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) writes coverage, the high-risk-zone take-up rate was 51.2% (50,787 NFIP policies for 99,247 homes). In the 114 inland counties with usable data, it was 25.9% (37,875 policies for 146,403 homes). Harris County, which is only partly in TWIA’s area, is in neither group. Source: FEMA, NFIP Residential Penetration Rates, as of August 3, 2026.

Flood history and flood insurance

We matched each county’s NFIP figures to its flood-related major disasters since 2000: federal disaster declarations for floods, hurricanes and tropical storms in which FEMA approved aid to households in that county. 27 declarations qualify.

Counties with more of these disasters had higher take-up. In the 21 counties with 6 or more of these disasters and usable data, the high-risk-zone take-up rate was 48.2% (48.1% without Harris County). In the 20 counties with none, it was 15.6%. This is a pattern in the data, not proof that one causes the other.

Rates are pooled: NFIP policies divided by homes, each summed across the counties in the row. Sources: FEMA, NFIP Residential Penetration Rates, as of August 3, 2026; OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, declarations since January 1, 2000.

Most Texas flood policies are outside the high-risk zone

Of the 504,816 residential NFIP policies in force in Texas on August 3, 2026, 333,624 (66.1%) were for homes outside FEMA’s high-risk zone. In Harris County the share was 73.5% (151,515 of 206,279). Statewide, NFIP policies came to 5.8% of the 8,773,166 homes FEMA counts in Texas.

What this means for Texas homeowners and renters

• The flood map is a starting point. On August 3, 2026, 66.1% of Texas NFIP policies were for homes outside the high-risk zone (FEMA). You can look up your address on FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center, then ask whether flood coverage makes sense for your home either way.
• A home or renters policy is usually not flood insurance. The Texas Department of Insurance says most home insurance policies don’t cover flood damage. Flood coverage is a separate policy, from the NFIP or a private insurer, and renters can buy one for their belongings.
• Buy before the forecast. FloodSmart says new NFIP coverage takes effect 30 days after purchase, with some exceptions, such as buying it when you take out or renew a mortgage.
• Lenders require it in the zone. TDI says that if your home is in a designated flood zone, your lender requires flood insurance. Our Texas flood insurance guide covers NFIP limits, private flood and the disclosures Texas sellers and landlords must make.

Method

FEMA’s NFIP Residential Penetration Rates dataset gives, for each county, the number of residential NFIP policy contracts in force and FEMA’s count of residential buildings, both county-wide and inside the Special Flood Hazard Area: the A and V zones on FEMA’s flood maps, which FEMA describes as the area where the mandatory purchase of flood insurance applies. We call that the high-risk zone. The policy figures are as of August 3, 2026; the building counts come from FEMA’s National Structure Inventory 2022. The take-up rate is policies divided by buildings, which is how FEMA computes its own rates; we checked that every county’s figures reproduce FEMA’s published rate.

“Homes” on this page means FEMA’s residential buildings. FEMA uses policy contracts, not the separate policies on individual condominium units, and calls them a good approximation of insured buildings. The Texas figure of 40.0% is our own: all NFIP policies in the high-risk zone divided by all homes in that zone, across the 126 counties with usable data.

Flood disasters are major disaster declarations from FEMA’s Disaster Declarations Summaries, declared on or after January 1, 2000, whose incident type is flood, hurricane or coastal storm, or whose title names flooding, a hurricane or a tropical storm (the most recent that qualifies was declared on September 1, 2026). A declaration counts for a county only where FEMA designated that county for aid to individuals and households. Emergency and fire declarations, and designations for public assistance only, are left out. These counts are not the same as the “FEMA declarations since 2000” on our Texas county guides, which count every declaration type.

Limits

• The take-up rate is NFIP policies divided by homes, so it is an estimate of coverage, not a count of households with a policy. One home can carry more than one policy, such as an owner’s policy on the building and a renter’s policy on belongings, while a condominium association’s policy on a whole building counts as one.
• Private flood insurance is not in FEMA’s data. A home without an NFIP policy may have private flood coverage, so these figures are not a count of homes without flood insurance.
• FEMA gives no count of homes in the high-risk zone for 126 of the 254 Texas counties, including Nueces, Orange, Jefferson, El Paso and Hidalgo, so they have no high-risk-zone rate. Together they hold 24,990 NFIP policies in the high-risk zone, which our Texas figure leaves out.
• In Stephens and Tarrant counties, FEMA’s high-risk-zone rate is over 100% (229.4% and 227.6%). FEMA says this happens when its building count is incomplete. We leave both counties out of every high-risk-zone figure.
• County-wide rates cover all 254 counties. FEMA lists no NFIP residential policies in 26 of them, and 62 Texas policies are not assigned to a county.
• The policy counts are a snapshot on August 3, 2026. Policies start, lapse and renew all year.
• Disaster declarations measure federal aid events, not how much damage a county had.

Sources

1. Federal Emergency Management Agency, NFIP Residential Penetration Rates (OpenFEMA, v1), data as of August 3, 2026. API: https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v1/NfipResidentialPenetrationRates.csv. Accessed November 11, 2026, 8:12 p.m. Pacific time.
2. Federal Emergency Management Agency, Disaster Declarations Summaries (OpenFEMA, v2), Texas declarations since January 1, 2000. API: https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries.csv. Accessed November 11, 2026, 8:12 p.m. Pacific time.
3. Federal Emergency Management Agency, Glossary: Special Flood Hazard Area.
4. Texas Department of Insurance, Flood insurance: Why you need a policy.
5. FloodSmart (National Flood Insurance Program), Buy a Flood Insurance Policy.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency’s website(s).