ZipFactbook

Home › Flood claims › Illinois › Stephenson County

Stephenson County, IL flood insurance claims history

193 National Flood Insurance Program claims have been filed for flood losses in Stephenson County since 1979, and FEMA has paid out $3.6M on them. The worst year was 2017 with 35 claims. Stephenson County ranks #40 of 101 in Illinois by claim count.

At a glance

  • 29% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • Flood claims were filed in 7 of the last 10 years.
  • More flood claims than 61% of the 101 Illinois counties with any claims on file — and more than 1 of its 4 neighbors.
  • ZIP 61032 has the most claims in the county (134, 69%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
193
1979 – 2026
Total paid
$3.6M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
78%
150 received a payment
Average payout
$24K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
89
claims 2017 – 2026
Most recent loss
2026-04-17
data as of 2026-09-07

Look up your ZIP code

Pick your ZIP code to see how many insured buildings there filed flood claims, in which years, and how much was paid. Narrow by year or flood zone too. Everything runs in your browser — nothing you pick is sent anywhere.

Loading claim records…

Flood claims by year

Peak: 35 claims in 2017

Claims by year of loss, 1979–2026. Spikes line up with named storms and major rain events; quiet years still see claims from local flash flooding.

Biggest flood events in Stephenson County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Midwest Flooding14$94K$7K1993
Flooding (FEMA general label)7$27K$4K1997
Flooding (FEMA general label)4$75K$19K1996
Flooding (FEMA general label)3$3K$1K1985
Flooding (FEMA general label)2$45K$23K1982
Flooding (FEMA general label)1$13K$13K1995
Mid-spring storms1$0$02013

17% of claims here fall under these 7 entries. “FEMA general label” groups many separate floods under one name; the rest of the claims have no event name.

Claims by flood zone

Not sure what the zone letters mean? Flood zones explained →

High-risk A zones: 132 (68%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 0 (0%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 53 (27%)Zone not recorded: 8 (4%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)132$1.9M$14K
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)53$1.7M$32K
Zone not recorded8$12K$2K

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Stream, river or lake overflow11359%
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt5931%
Other causes116%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)84%
Not recorded21%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Stephenson County

8 ZIP codes in Stephenson County have at least one NFIP claim. ZIP codes can cross county lines; this table counts only claims FEMA assigned to Stephenson County.

61032134$1.6M69%242026
6106227$1.3M14%32022
610678$108K4%42019
610897$293K4%42019
610506$98K3%42019
610486$65K3%42022
610604$72K2%32000
610631$39K1%12010

Click a column to sort. Click a ZIP to load it in the lookup above.

When does Stephenson County flood?

July accounts for the most flood losses (87 claims, 45%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January11%
February158%
March3317%
April42%
May21%
June158%
July8745%
August2412%
September63%
October63%
November00%
December00%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20261$0
20241$3K
202214$524K
20201$0
201926$583K
201811$136K
201735$1.5M
20132$0
20111$3K
201028$410K
20091$3K
20084$8K
20074$7K
20043$2K
20023$6K
20009$26K
19979$28K
19965$76K
19951$13K
199315$95K
19908$42K
19853$3K
19831$0
19823$45K
19801$3K
19793$497

Neighboring counties

Stephenson County borders 4 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Stephenson County (this page)193$3.6M29%
Winnebago County1,729$27.3M17%
Jo Daviess County343$3.9M8%
Ogle County308$3.5M12%
Carroll County57$807K65%

All 101 Illinois counties → · County and ZIP rankings →

Common questions about flooding in Stephenson County

Has Stephenson County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2026-04-17, and claims were filed in 7 of the last 10 years (89 claims from 2017 to 2026). FEMA’s data runs to 2026-09-07, so the newest events may not appear yet.
Do I need flood insurance in a low-risk zone here?
Lenders generally require it only in high-risk A and V zones. But 29% of Stephenson County’s claims came from moderate- and low-risk zones. Whether to buy coverage is your call — see flood zones explained and check your address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center.
Can I see whether a specific house has flooded?
Not here. FEMA removes addresses before publishing, so these figures describe areas, never a property. Our guide how to check if a house has flooded lists the questions and records that can tell you about a specific home.
Why might the real number of floods be higher?
Only buildings with National Flood Insurance can file these claims, and most homes are not insured for flood. More on what the counts mean in understanding NFIP claims data.

Look up another place

About these numbers

Figures are aggregated from FEMA’s OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims dataset (county FIPS 17177, data as of 2026-09-07). They cover only properties that carried National Flood Insurance — most homes do not, and private flood policies are not included — so real flood damage is larger than these counts show. Dollar amounts are as paid, in nominal dollars. Flood zone is the zone used to rate the policy at the time, which may differ from today’s map. FEMA states this dataset is not an official federal report. Use it for background, not for a purchase, insurance or legal decision; for a specific property ask the seller for its flood disclosure or the owner’s NFIP loss history.

Was this page helpful?