Flood insurance in New Jersey: cost by ZIP code and county
New Jersey has 98,092 single-family flood policies; their median yearly bill was $1,311 on July 31, 2026, above the national $1,081.
Median single-family flood bill, New Jersey
$1,311
98,092 policies in force on July 31, 2026, premium and fees included.
| Median full-risk price, same policies | $1,972 |
| Policies still below their full-risk price | 59 % |
| Median paid in August 2023 | $953 |
| Increase left from the median | 3 renewals at 18 % |
| Next five bills, added up | $9,247 |
| Median claim paid, 2016 to 2025 (7,654 claims) | $15,645 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · Where the numbers come from · 493 ZIP codes and 21 counties of New Jersey in FEMA's tables · not a quote
New Jersey homeowners with a federal flood policy paid a median of $1,311 a year for a single-family house on July 31, 2026, a total that includes the premium, the Reserve Fund Assessment, the HFIAA surcharge and the Federal Policy Fee. The national median on that date was $1,081. The state has 98,092 such policies, and 82 % of them are rated in high-risk A zones, a far larger share than in most states. The bills are still well below cost: priced at full risk, the median would be $1,972, and 59 % of policies pay less than their full-risk premium. Ocean County, with 33,312 policies, is the largest market. Paid claims tell a different story: the largest event of the decade was Hurricane Ida in 2021, whose rain flooded northern New Jersey.
Two flood markets in one small state
Read the county table below with two groups in mind. The four shore counties, Ocean, Cape May, Atlantic and Monmouth, where FEMA's 2023 table rates most policies as exposed to storm surge, hold 71,573 single-family policies, about 73 % of the state. Bergen, Union and Essex, in the north, hold only 9,553. Yet over 2016 to 2025, the northern three had 3,155 paid claims against 1,260 for the shore four.
Part of the answer is the window. The claims file starts in 2016, so earlier storms are not in it, and the largest event since then was rain: the National Hurricane Center report on Ida describes flash flooding and urban flooding across northern New Jersey. Hurricane Ida alone produced 4,234 paid claims and $154,185,627 in payments, 55 % of every paid single-family claim in the state in that decade.
What shore owners pay
Cape May County had a median bill of $1,380 on July 31, 2026; Atlantic County, $1,385; Ocean County, $1,293. In all three, the median full-risk bill is well above that, and in Ocean 71 % of policies are still on a glide path. FEMA rated 77 % of New Jersey's single-family policies as exposed to storm surge and 15 % to erosion.
Where a shore house is a second home, the rules change. A home that is not a primary residence has its premium raised by up to 25 % a year instead of 18 %, and pays a $250 HFIAA surcharge instead of $25. The second home guide covers that track. The insurer checks primary residence status, for example when a policy is assigned to a buyer at a sale.
Next five New Jersey bills from the state medians
Your next five flood bills, added up
$9,247
| Renewal 1 (capped) | $1,534 |
| Renewal 2 (capped) | $1,797 |
| Renewal 3 | $1,972 |
| Renewal 4 | $1,972 |
The north: few policies, costly claims
Bergen County paid claims at a median of $18,179, Union County at $18,971, both above the state median claim of $15,645. Their policies are closer to full price: in Essex County only 29 % of policies remain capped. Statewide, 1,778 claims over the decade were paid on homes rated in X zones. No lender requires coverage there, and a policy bought after a forecast still waits 30 days.
The widest gap
In FEMA's 2023 table, Hunterdon County on the Delaware River had the largest distance between current and full-risk medians: $1,143 against $4,199, across 694 policies. A typical policy there still has a long way to go. Monmouth County shows the opposite pattern: $1,207 paid at the median against $1,572 at full risk, the smallest distance of the four shore counties.
The New Jersey counties with the most policies
| County | Policies | Median bill | Full-risk median | Still below full risk | Renewals left at 18 % | Median bill, August 2023 | Median claim 2016-2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean County | 33,312 | $1,293 | $2,186 | 71 % | 4 | $914 | $5,583 |
| Cape May County | 14,722 | $1,380 | $2,063 | 66 % | 3 | $990 | $7,774 |
| Monmouth County | 13,218 | $1,207 | $1,572 | 51 % | 2 | $903 | $7,502 |
| Atlantic County | 10,321 | $1,385 | $1,974 | 63 % | 3 | $1,022 | $6,507 |
| Bergen County | 4,209 | $1,297 | $1,731 | 37 % | 2 | $1,041 | $18,179 |
| Union County | 3,072 | $1,344 | $1,605 | 38 % | 2 | $1,113 | $18,971 |
| Burlington County | 2,793 | $1,422 | $2,384 | 55 % | 4 | $914 | $10,094 |
| Essex County | 2,272 | $1,101 | $1,165 | 29 % | 1 | $881 | $15,762 |
Full-risk prices of New Jersey homes, band by band
| Full risk-based price a year | Policies | Share | Median rebuild value |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 to $1,000 | 16,454 | 14.4 % | $508,966 |
| $1,000 to $2,000 | 42,820 | 37.6 % | $509,282 |
| $2,000 to $3,000 | 29,169 | 25.6 % | $588,259 |
| $3,000 to $4,000 | 13,477 | 11.8 % | $632,882 |
| $4,000 to $5,000 | 6,181 | 5.4 % | $636,753 |
| $5,000 or more | 5,857 | 5.1 % |
The floods that paid the most New Jersey claims since 2016
| Event (FEMA name) | Year | Paid claims | Paid in total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Ida | 2021 | 4,234 | $154,185,627 |
| 2025 July NYC Metro Area Flooding | 2025 | 476 | $18,848,071 |
| Winter Storm Jonas | 2016 | 570 | $8,536,336 |