Texas insurance risk statistics

Population and growth

• Texas had 31,709,821 residents on July 1, 2025, up 2,560,323 (8.8%) from 29,149,498 on April 1, 2020.
• 82 of Texas’s 254 counties had fewer residents in 2025 than in 2020.
• Among the 162 counties with at least 10,000 residents in 2020, Kaufman County grew fastest, by 44.0%.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, county population estimates (Vintage 2025), April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2025.

Counties with at least 10,000 residents in 2020. Every county is in the CSV download.

The TWIA coastal area

• TWIA’s designated area is the 14 first-tier coastal counties (Aransas, Brazoria, Calhoun, Cameron, Chambers, Galveston, Jefferson, Kenedy, Kleberg, Matagorda, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio and Willacy) and parts of Harris County east of Highway 146. On much of the coast, home policies leave out wind and hail, which TWIA covers for people who meet its rules; see our TWIA guide.
• The 14 counties had 2,101,663 residents in July 2025, up 4.7% from 2,007,516 in April 2020. Texas as a whole grew 8.8%.
• Chambers County grew fastest of the 14, by 23.8%; 7 of the 14 had fewer residents in 2025 than in 2020.
• Each of the 14 counties was named in between 11 and 15 hurricane or tropical storm declarations since 2000; Galveston and San Patricio had the most.

Source: TWIA, Coverage and eligibility (accessed November 12, 2026, 1:22 p.m. Pacific time); U.S. Census Bureau, county population estimates (Vintage 2025), April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2025; FEMA, OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, January 1, 2000 to November 12, 2026.

Hurricane declarations: hurricane or tropical storm declarations since 2000 (FEMA, OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, January 1, 2000 to November 12, 2026). NFIP take-up: NFIP policies equal to this share of the homes in the high-risk flood zone (FEMA, NFIP Residential Penetration Rates, as of August 3, 2026); FEMA lists no homes in that zone for counties marked “No FEMA count”.

Federal disaster declarations

• Texas has had 220 federal disaster declarations since January 1, 2000: 40 major disasters, 15 emergencies and 165 fire management assistance declarations.
• 169 of the 220 (77%) were for wildfires.
• Travis and Walker counties had 30 declarations each, the most of Texas’s 254 counties. Walker County had the most major disaster declarations, 19.
• The most recent declaration in the data was declared on September 15, 2026. See Texas counties hit most by federal disasters.

Source: FEMA, OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, January 1, 2000 to November 12, 2026.

Hail, wind and tornadoes

• NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 12,919 hail reports in Texas counties from 2016 to 2025; 11,063 (86%) were of hail 1 inch or larger and 1,986 of hail 2 inches or larger.
• Over the same years it lists 9,262 thunderstorm wind reports and 1,244 tornadoes.
• Tarrant County had the most hail reports, 465. Reports depend on people seeing a storm, so busy counties log more; a report is not a count of damaged homes or cars.

Source: NOAA, Storm Events Database, 2016 to 2025.

Flood insurance

• As of August 3, 2026, NFIP policies equaled 40.0% of the homes in high-risk flood zones across the 126 Texas counties with usable FEMA data, and 48.4% in Harris County.
• In the 11 TWIA coastal counties with usable data the figure was 51.2%; in the 114 inland counties with usable data it was 25.9%.
• Of the 504,816 residential NFIP policies in force in Texas, 66.1% were for homes outside FEMA’s high-risk zone. See the Texas flood insurance gap.

Source: FEMA, NFIP Residential Penetration Rates, as of August 3, 2026.

Medicare Advantage

• In October 2026, 54.8% of Texans eligible for Medicare were enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, up from 43.3% in October 2020.
• The share was 55.9% in metro counties and 48.3% in non-metro counties.
• Among counties with at least 1,000 eligibles, it ranged from 22.1% in Ochiltree County to 84.5% in Starr County. See Medicare Advantage share by Texas county.

Source: CMS, MA State/County Penetration, October 2026.

What these numbers mean for Texas homeowners and drivers

• On the coast, wind and hail may need a separate policy. Check whether your home policy covers wind and hail or whether you need TWIA, and know your wind and hail deductible.
• Flood is a separate policy. Most home policies don’t cover flooding. Our Texas flood insurance guide explains NFIP and private flood coverage.
• Hail is common well away from the coast. Comprehensive coverage on a car policy and wind and hail coverage on a home policy are the coverages that usually pay for hail damage (after your deductible), not a disaster declaration. The Texas Department of Insurance says that if you have that coverage, your insurance company should pay for hail damage.

Method and sources

Population figures are the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 county estimates, downloaded November 12, 2026, 1:22 p.m. Pacific time; change runs from the April 1, 2020 estimates base to the July 1, 2025 estimate. TWIA’s designated area is as listed on its Coverage and eligibility page, accessed November 12, 2026, 1:22 p.m. Pacific time; the 14-county figures leave out the part of Harris County in TWIA’s area, because population estimates are by whole county. Disaster, storm, flood and Medicare figures come from our studies, which set out their own methods and limits.

1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population estimates, county totals, Vintage 2025: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/counties/totals/co-est2025-alldata.csv.
2. Texas Department of Insurance, Hail damage to your home or car? What to do next and What to know about deductibles.
3. Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, Coverage and eligibility.
4. Texas counties hit most by federal disasters (FEMA OpenFEMA; NOAA Storm Events).
5. The Texas flood insurance gap, county by county (FEMA NFIP Residential Penetration Rates).
6. Medicare Advantage share by Texas county (CMS MA State/County Penetration).

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).