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San Mateo, CA

Flood Risk Score: 19/100 · Rank #257 of 3,277 counties

San Mateo County in California has 9 FEMA disaster declarations on record covering 1982–2023, most recently Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides on Mar 10, 2023 (DR-3592). Its flood risk grade is A (Low risk), ranking #257 of 3,277 U.S. counties, with 33 NFIP flood insurance claims totaling $1,995,914 in payouts. Flood risk is relatively low compared to the national average.

19
Risk Score
33
NFIP Claims
$1,995,914
Total Payouts
9
Disasters
$60,482
Avg Claim
33
Active Policies

FEMA Disaster Declarations in San Mateo County

The 9 most recent federally declared disasters affecting San Mateo County, CA (1982–2023). Total declarations on record: 9.

DeclaredIncident TypeTitleFEMA Disaster #
Mar 10, 2023FloodSevere Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and MudslidesDR-3592
Jan 14, 2023FloodSevere Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and MudslidesDR-4683
Jan 9, 2023FloodSevere Winter Storms, Flooding, and MudslidesDR-3591
Apr 1, 2017FloodSevere Winter Storms, Flooding, and MudslidesDR-4308
Mar 16, 2017FloodSevere Winter Storms, Flooding, and MudslidesDR-4305
Sep 13, 2005HurricaneHurricane Katrina EvacuationDR-3248
Feb 21, 1986FloodSevere Storms & FloodingDR-758
Feb 9, 1983Coastal StormCoastal Storms, Floods, Slides & TornadoesDR-677
Jan 7, 1982FloodSevere Storms, Flood, Mudslides & High TideDR-651

Score Breakdown

The composite score of 19 is calculated from four weighted factors. See our methodology for details.

Claims Density
40%
0
Disaster Frequency
25%
19
Claim Severity
20%
0
Year-over-Year Trend
15%
94

Other Counties in California

CountyGradeScoreClaimsDisasters
LakeA19288
MontereyA192810
Santa ClaraA19398
El DoradoA20169
ShastaA20109
TulareA20219
View All Counties in California

Frequently Asked Questions

How many FEMA disaster declarations does San Mateo County, CA have?

San Mateo County, CA has 9 federal disaster declarations on FEMA record (1982–2023). The 5 most recent are: Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (declared Mar 10, 2023, DR-3592); Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (declared Jan 14, 2023, DR-4683); Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides (declared Jan 9, 2023, DR-3591); Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides (declared Apr 1, 2017, DR-4308); Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides (declared Mar 16, 2017, DR-4305). Counts include flood, severe storm, hurricane, and coastal storm declarations from the OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries dataset.

What is the flood risk grade for San Mateo County, CA?

San Mateo County is graded A (composite score 19/100, low risk). It ranks #257 of 3,277 U.S. counties for flood risk in our scoring model. The grade combines NFIP claims density (40%), disaster frequency (25%), claim severity (20%), and year-over-year trend (15%).

How many NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in San Mateo County?

33 NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in San Mateo County, CA, totaling $1,995,914 in payouts. The average claim is $60,482. Source: FEMA FimaNfipClaims v2 dataset.

Has San Mateo County, CA had any recent flood disasters?

Yes. The most recent FEMA declaration affecting San Mateo County was Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides on Mar 10, 2023 (DR-3592). The county has 9 declared disasters in the OpenFEMA record covering 1982–2023.

The this entity record above pulls directly from FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims. What follows is the per-entity context — how this entity sits in the broader U.S. flood risk, NFIP claims, and disaster declarations distribution and which underlying factors drive the headline numbers.

Every number on this page links back to FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims; the methodology page describes the inputs, refresh cadence, and known limitations of the underlying data product.

For readers using this page as a decision input, the related-entity pages elsewhere on the site provide the comparison set. The most useful comparison for this entity is typically a peer within U.S. ZIPs, counties, and states with similar size, similar exposure, or similar geography — not the national-level summary alone.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA datasets, 2026.