Updated May 2026
Flood Risk in New York
New York carries a relatively low statewide average risk score of 13, with 100% of its 63 counties at A or B. 0 counties are in the F (extreme) tier, typically along major rivers or flood-prone basins. Statewide NFIP take-up is modest at 2.0K total claims.
Grade Distribution Across New York
The grade mix is dominated by A — 89% of counties — meaning the typical place in this state has very low historical flood loss. The handful of B/C/D/F counties below define where risk is concentrated.
How New York Compares Nationally
The U.S. county-level average composite score is 12. New York sits at 13, which is right around the national average. 507 federal flood-related disaster declarations across 63 counties is one of the highest counts in the dataset — about 8.0 per county. Most counties have lived through multiple federally declared floods.
For full national context — every state ranked by average score and total claims — see the all-states overview. The riskiest-counties ranking and highest-payouts ranking drill into where loss is concentrated. Real-time stream-gauge readings are at USGS Water Data.
Riskiest in New York
| County | Grade | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Westchester | B | 26 |
| Nassau | B | 25 |
| Rockland | B | 24 |
| Orange | B | 23 |
| Queens | B | 23 |
Safest in New York
| County | Grade | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Monroe | A | 5 |
| Richmond | A | 8 |
| Chautauqua | A | 8 |
| Rensselaer | A | 8 |
| Erie | A | 8 |
How New York's Risk Is Calculated
Every county in New York is scored on the same four factors that drive every county nationwide: NFIP claims density (40%), federally declared flood-disaster frequency (25%), average claim severity (20%), and year-over-year trend (15%). Source data comes from the public FEMA flood-mapping program and OpenFEMA endpoints. Detailed weighting math, plus the data's known limitations (county-level granularity, NFIP-participation bias, historical bias), is on the methodology page.
All 63 Counties in New York
Sorted by flood risk score, highest to lowest.
| # | County | Grade | Score | Claims | Payouts | Disasters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westchester | B | 26 | 438 | $20,199,162 | 17 |
| 2 | Nassau | B | 25 | 373 | $7,338,653 | 16 |
| 3 | Rockland | B | 24 | 25 | $893,629 | 16 |
| 4 | Orange | B | 23 | 30 | $389,006 | 14 |
| 5 | Queens | B | 23 | 213 | $5,980,737 | 12 |
| 6 | New York | B | 21 | 34 | $593,984 | 11 |
| 7 | Kings | B | 21 | 106 | $1,381,432 | 11 |
| 8 | Bronx | A | 20 | 47 | $920,258 | 10 |
| 9 | Suffolk | A | 20 | 233 | $6,039,859 | 16 |
| 10 | Niagara | A | 18 | 10 | $84,469 | 6 |
| 11 | Steuben | A | 17 | 9 | $84,546 | 9 |
| 12 | Ulster | A | 17 | 9 | $76,714 | 16 |
| 13 | Delaware | A | 16 | 6 | $21,159 | 12 |
| 14 | Essex | A | 16 | 6 | $175,964 | 8 |
| 15 | Putnam | A | 15 | 9 | $423,579 | 14 |
| 16 | Onondaga | A | 14 | 26 | $1,131,194 | 8 |
| 17 | Sullivan | A | 14 | 5 | $75,605 | 12 |
| 18 | Allegany | A | 13 | 0 | $0 | 10 |
| 19 | Oneida | A | 13 | 58 | $1,020,874 | 8 |
| 20 | Dutchess | A | 13 | 16 | $291,999 | 10 |
| 21 | Tioga | A | 12 | 9 | $207,730 | 9 |
| 22 | Yates | A | 12 | 2 | $38,046 | 8 |
| 23 | Chemung | A | 12 | 3 | $23,060 | 8 |
| 24 | Chenango | A | 12 | 2 | $60,664 | 8 |
| 25 | Oswego | A | 12 | 6 | $43,638 | 8 |
| 26 | Herkimer | A | 12 | 5 | $125,708 | 8 |
| 27 | Warren | A | 12 | 4 | $180,988 | 8 |
| 28 | Greene | A | 12 | 3 | $96,536 | 9 |
| 29 | Schoharie | A | 12 | 0 | $0 | 8 |
| 30 | Cortland | A | 11 | 2 | $5,000 | 7 |
| 31 | Lewis | A | 11 | 0 | $0 | 7 |
| 32 | Broome | A | 11 | 22 | $870,754 | 11 |
| 33 | Schuyler | A | 11 | 0 | $0 | 6 |
| 34 | Clinton | A | 11 | 1 | $313,402 | 6 |
| 35 | Franklin | A | 11 | 0 | $0 | 6 |
| 36 | Madison | A | 11 | 5 | $77,607 | 7 |
| 37 | Montgomery | A | 11 | 2 | $0 | 7 |
| 38 | Otsego | A | 11 | 4 | $15,544 | 6 |
| 39 | Columbia | A | 11 | 0 | $0 | 7 |
| 40 | Schenectady | A | 11 | 1 | $0 | 6 |
| 41 | Tompkins | A | 11 | 0 | $0 | 7 |
| 42 | Seneca | A | 10 | 3 | $5,047 | 4 |
| 43 | Jefferson | A | 10 | 13 | $420,271 | 5 |
| 44 | Orleans | A | 10 | 2 | $34,121 | 4 |
| 45 | St. Lawrence | A | 10 | 6 | $1,114,385 | 5 |
| 46 | Wayne | A | 10 | 13 | $162,372 | 5 |
| 47 | Hamilton | A | 10 | 2 | $30,947 | 5 |
| 48 | Saratoga | A | 10 | 1 | $12,076 | 5 |
| 49 | Washington | A | 10 | 0 | $0 | 5 |
| 50 | Cattaraugus | A | 10 | 1 | $15,480 | 5 |
| 51 | Livingston | A | 10 | 3 | $48,700 | 5 |
| 52 | Wyoming | A | 10 | 5 | $62,738 | 5 |
| 53 | Statewide | A | 10 | 0 | $0 | 5 |
| 54 | Cayuga | A | 9 | 9 | $152,290 | 8 |
| 55 | Fulton | A | 9 | 3 | $7,522 | 3 |
| 56 | Albany | A | 9 | 9 | $80,242 | 6 |
| 57 | Genesee | A | 9 | 3 | $169,451 | 3 |
| 58 | Ontario | A | 9 | 15 | $293,330 | 5 |
| 59 | Richmond | A | 8 | 85 | $1,204,294 | 11 |
| 60 | Chautauqua | A | 8 | 8 | $114,110 | 4 |
| 61 | Rensselaer | A | 8 | 10 | $248,279 | 8 |
| 62 | Erie | A | 8 | 23 | $288,263 | 2 |
| 63 | Monroe | A | 5 | 36 | $145,547 | 6 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average flood risk score in New York?
New York's average composite flood risk score is 13 on a 0–100 scale, computed as the mean of all 63 county scores. That is roughly equal to the U.S. county-level average of 12. Score components: 40% claims density, 25% disaster frequency, 20% claim severity, 15% trend.
Which counties in New York have the highest flood risk?
The riskiest county in New York is Westchester with a composite score of 26 (grade B). The next four — Nassau, Rockland, Orange, Queens — round out the top-five most exposed places in the state.
How many NFIP flood-insurance claims has New York filed?
FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program shows 2.0K claims on file from New York, with combined payouts of $53,790,965 across the dataset. 54 of the state's 63 counties have at least one NFIP claim recorded.
Are FEMA flood maps the same as your risk score?
No. The flood risk score on this page is a county-wide composite drawn from claims, disasters, severity, and trend. FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs, available at fema.gov/flood-maps) are parcel-level zone designations based on hydrologic modeling. The two answer different questions; serious decisions about insurance or building should use both, plus real-time hydrology from USGS Water Data.
When was the New York data last updated?
These figures were refreshed from the OpenFEMA API on 2026-05-16. FEMA itself publishes new NFIP claims on a quarterly cycle, so the data may lag actual events by up to three months.
Flood risk profile for New York: 63 counties, 2.0K NFIP claims, average composite score 13.
For this entity, the underlying data on this page comes from FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims. The breakdown above is the federal record; the paragraphs below add the per-entity context that makes the headline numbers usable for a real decision rather than just a data lookup.
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.
Practical use of this page is in combination with the comparison and ranking pages elsewhere on the site, which surface the same data for this entity’s peers within U.S. ZIPs, counties, and states. A single-entity reading without peer context can be misleading when an entity is an outlier on one axis but typical on another.