Updated May 2026
Flood Risk in Pinellas, FL
Pinellas, FL has a Flood Risk Score of 55/100 (Grade C), ranking #3 of 3,277 counties nationwide. The risk level is Elevated. There have been 4.9K NFIP flood-insurance claims totaling $571,011,087 in payouts, with 22 federal disaster declarations on record.
Key Data
What the Grade Means Here
Pinellas earns a C — meaningful flood risk that homeowners should take seriously. The composite score of 55 (rank #3 of 3,277) reflects 4.9K NFIP claims and 22 federal flood-related disaster declarations, putting the county in the middle tier of the U.S. distribution. C-graded counties typically have one or two well-defined flood-prone zones — a coastal stretch, a river floodplain, or both.
Within Florida, Pinellas runs 32 points above the state average composite score of 23 — meaningfully more flood-exposed than the typical county in the state. Rank: #2 of 68. The full Florida state profile shows how every county within the state compares.
What's Driving the Risk Score?
The single biggest driver of the composite score in this county is NFIP claims density (40% of the formula, factor score 42). For Pinellas, that means the volume of NFIP flood-insurance claims relative to the county is the strongest signal — flooding has historically been frequent enough to file claims in measurable numbers.
The trend factor is high (100 of 100), meaning flood losses have been accelerating sharply in this county. That is the single most actionable signal in the score — recent risk is meaningfully greater than the long-run average suggests.
Score Breakdown
| Factor | Score | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Claims Density | 42 | 40% |
| Disaster Frequency | 47 | 25% |
| Claim Severity | 55 | 20% |
| Year-over-Year Trend | 100 | 15% |
How This Score Is Calculated
The composite is a weighted average of four FEMA-derived factors. Source data comes from the public FEMA flood-mapping program via the OpenFEMA API. For property-level decisions, layer this with the parcel's FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map zone and recent crest readings from USGS Water Data. Full math: methodology page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the flood risk in Pinellas, FL?
Pinellas, FL has a Flood Risk Score of 55/100 (Grade C), ranking #3 of 3,277 counties nationwide. The risk level is Elevated. There have been 4.9K NFIP flood-insurance claims totaling $571,011,087 in payouts, with 22 federal disaster declarations on record.
Is flood insurance required in Pinellas?
Federal law requires flood insurance for any property in a Special Flood Hazard Area (FEMA Zone A or V) financed by a federally regulated lender. Pinellas's county-wide composite score is 55 (Grade C), which is a county aggregate — your specific parcel's flood-zone designation comes from the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) at fema.gov/flood-maps. Even when not legally required, NFIP coverage is often available for a few hundred dollars a year in moderate- and low-risk zones, and FEMA reports more than 25% of all NFIP claims come from outside high-risk zones.
What is driving the flood risk score in Pinellas?
The single biggest driver of the composite score in this county is NFIP claims density (40% of the formula, factor score 42). For Pinellas, that means the volume of NFIP flood-insurance claims relative to the county is the strongest signal — flooding has historically been frequent enough to file claims in measurable numbers.
Is flood risk increasing or decreasing in Pinellas?
The trend factor is high (100 of 100), meaning flood losses have been accelerating sharply in this county. That is the single most actionable signal in the score — recent risk is meaningfully greater than the long-run average suggests.
How does Pinellas compare to other counties in Florida?
Within Florida, Pinellas runs 32 points above the state average composite score of 23 — meaningfully more flood-exposed than the typical county in the state. Rank: #2 of 68.
Where does this data come from?
Every figure on this page comes from FEMA's public OpenFEMA API — the DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 endpoint (federally declared flood-related disasters) and the FimaNfipClaims endpoint (individual NFIP flood-insurance claims aggregated by county FIPS code). Both are public-domain U.S. government work. Real-time stream-gauge readings that complement these federal aggregates live at USGS Water Data. Last updated 2026-05-16.
Pinellas, FL has a Flood Risk Score of 55/100 (Grade C), ranking #3 of 3,277 counties nationwide. The risk level is Elevated. There have been 4.9K NFIP flood-insurance claims totaling $571,011,087 in payouts, with 22 federal disaster declarations on record.
The data source behind this answer is FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims. Every figure on the page traces back to that source; the methodology page describes the inputs and the refresh cadence in full detail.
For readers turning this answer into action: cross-reference against the underlying FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims record before acting on time-sensitive decisions. The site renders the data as it was published; subsequent revisions can shift the picture, and the live federal data is always the authoritative current reference.