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Atlantic County, NJ flood insurance claims history

20,909 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Atlantic County since 1978, and FEMA has paid out $493.9M on them. The worst year was 2012 with 11,429 claims. Atlantic County ranks #3 of 21 in New Jersey by claim count.

At a glance

  • 3% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 54% of all claims trace to a single event — Hurricane Sandy (2012), which paid $419.5M here.
  • Flood claims were filed in 10 of the last 10 years — flooding here is a regular event, not a once-in-a-generation one.
  • More flood claims than 90% of the 21 New Jersey counties with any claims on file — and more than 4 of its 6 neighbors.
  • ZIP 08401 has the most claims in the county (5,940, 28%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
20,909
1978–2026
Total paid
$493.9M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
85%
17,720 received a payment
Average payout
$28K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
367
claims 2017 – 2026
Most recent loss
2026-03-24
data as of 2026-09-08

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 — and which named floods those claims came from, which a county-wide list cannot tell you. Narrow by year or flood zone too. Everything runs in your browser — nothing you pick is sent anywhere. Have a street address? Run the printable flood check for it →

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Flood claims by year

Peak: 11,429 claims in 2012

Claims by year of loss, 1978–2026. Spikes line up with named storms and major rain events; quiet years still see claims from local flash flooding.

Biggest flood events in Atlantic County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Hurricane Sandy11,344$419.5M$37K2012
December Storm - Nor'easter3,278$31.1M$9K1992
Flooding (FEMA general label)1,058$4.1M$4K1984
Hurricane Gloria914$3.6M$4K1985
Flooding (FEMA general label)434$2.6M$6K1992
Flooding (FEMA general label)323$2.3M$7K1994
Flooding (FEMA general label)259$1.5M$6K1998
The "Halloween" Storm192$1.4M$7K1991
Flooding (FEMA general label)191$685K$4K1980
Hurricane Irene148$1.5M$10K2011
Winter Storm Jonas129$1.7M$13K2016
Flooding (FEMA general label)117$1.1M$9K1997

88% of claims here fall under these 12 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: 19,815 (95%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 340 (2%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 604 (3%)Zone not recorded: 150 (1%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)19,815$479.2M$24K
Coastal high-risk V zones (V, VE, V1–V30)340$3.7M$11K
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)604$10.5M$17K
Zone not recorded150$565K$4K

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)11,41555%
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt6,70332%
Other causes1,6408%
Stream, river or lake overflow8024%
Alluvial fan overflow1761%
Not recorded1631%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Atlantic County

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

084015,940$120.9M28%492026
082034,192$100.5M20%442026
084063,930$91.3M19%492026
084023,140$75.7M15%472026
084031,334$39.3M6%342025
08232880$31.7M4%452025
08244377$7.6M2%302025
08234198$5.7M1%242023
08037172$5.6M1%262023
08330162$3.5M1%222021
08201160$4.8M1%362026
0822197$1.7M0%242024
0824175$1.9M0%162012
0820555$1.0M0%182022
Not reported51$185K0%121994
0821537$419K0%172019
0822533$879K0%152018
082709$192K0%62021
080948$15K0%82011
082206$127K0%42012
083106$42K0%62019
082135$32K0%21994
084004$12K0%21992
083604$51K0%42016
083193$18K0%32024
082263$54K0%22012
084043$26K0%21992
082403$78K0%32025
080462$00%21999
084052$35K0%22012
077622$87K0%22012
080422$26K0%22012
080872$65K0%22012
80372$124K0%22012
082312$26K0%22012
083231$19K0%11985
080881$27K0%11992
080031$00%12012
840111$80K0%12012
086011$9K0%12012
080621$00%11992
080161$20K0%12012
083441$8K0%11984

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

When does Atlantic County flood?

October accounts for the most flood losses (11,992 claims, 57%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January9384%
February4862%
March1,6948%
April1251%
May940%
June830%
July1611%
August5373%
September1,0665%
October11,99257%
November2891%
December3,44416%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20265$36K
202553$1.4M
202422$727K
202318$231K
202236$1.5M
202125$504K
202030$144K
201929$740K
2018120$2.6M
201729$587K
2016164$2.1M
201537$272K
201424$206K
201333$127K
201211,429$420.6M
2011182$1.8M
2010119$921K
2009200$2.6M
200841$780K
200724$254K
200624$377K
200539$863K
200416$28K
200342$91K
200253$217K
200132$231K
200062$637K
199939$236K
1998399$2.4M
1997171$1.7M
1996109$917K
199538$400K
1994392$2.4M
1993100$479K
19923,762$33.9M
1991219$1.5M
199016$27K
198986$231K
19887$0
1987157$529K
198619$19K
1985935$3.7M
19841,073$4.1M
198331$27K
198218$26K
198124$43K
1980206$688K
1979157$189K
197863$66K

Neighboring counties

Atlantic County borders 6 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Atlantic County (this page)20,909$493.9M3%
Ocean County52,884$2.61B4%
Cape May County28,016$414.6M1%
Burlington County2,180$29.4M27%
Camden County1,329$8.6M34%
Cumberland County756$12.8M14%
Gloucester County709$4.8M27%

All 21 New Jersey counties → · County and ZIP rankings →

Common questions about flooding in Atlantic County

Has Atlantic County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2026-03-24, and claims were filed in 10 of the last 10 years (367 claims from 2017 to 2026). FEMA’s data runs to 2026-09-08, 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 3% of Atlantic 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 34001, data as of 2026-09-08). 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.

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