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Mercer County, NJ flood insurance claims history

2,432 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Mercer County since 1978, and FEMA has paid out $48.4M on them. The worst year was 2011 with 408 claims. Mercer County ranks #13 of 21 in New Jersey 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.
  • 13% of all claims trace to a single event — Hurricane Irene (2011), which paid $14.2M 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 40% of the 21 New Jersey counties with any claims on file — and more than 2 of its 5 neighbors.
  • ZIP 08618 has the most claims in the county (948, 39%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
2,432
1978–2026
Total paid
$48.4M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
77%
1,879 received a payment
Average payout
$26K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
213
claims 2017 – 2026
Most recent loss
2026-08-27
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: 408 claims in 2011

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 Mercer County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Hurricane Irene308$14.2M$46K2011
Hurricane Ida135$10.8M$80K2021
Hurricane Floyd118$3.9M$33K1999
April 2007 Nor'easter75$2.4M$32K2007
Torrential rain (FEMA general label)69$903K$13K2005
Not a named storm38$131K$3K1979
Flooding (FEMA general label)29$539K$19K1996
March 2010 Nor'easter20$42K$2K2010
Hurricane Sandy16$10K$6512012
Tropical Storm Henri14$482K$34K2021
Flooding (FEMA general label)11$13K$1K1984
December Storm - Nor'easter10$138K$14K1992

35% 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: 1,643 (68%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 2 (0%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 656 (27%)Zone not recorded: 131 (5%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)1,643$30.3M$18K
Coastal high-risk V zones (V, VE, V1–V30)2$0$0
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)656$17.7M$27K
Zone not recorded131$395K$3K

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt1,08745%
Stream, river or lake overflow88036%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)35014%
Other causes843%
Not recorded241%
Alluvial fan overflow50%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Mercer County

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

08618948$7.5M39%342024
08638344$12.5M14%352026
08619263$4.2M11%262023
08540217$7.9M9%322024
08648195$8.8M8%292026
0862884$1.1M3%202025
0855046$1.3M2%142021
0852046$405K2%192021
0861145$242K2%82011
0861043$52K2%182024
0856040$1.4M2%102024
0853437$1.6M2%102021
0860932$73K1%112021
0862924$61K1%122021
0852514$431K1%42021
Not reported13$138K1%72001
086909$9K0%42018
086206$64K0%52018
086915$7K0%52021
086044$19K0%21979
085613$420K0%32011
085423$53K0%22016
864813$136K0%22006
086432$14K0%21979
085122$9K0%22011
085441$00%12011
086081$00%12000
088161$11K0%11999
085301$32K0%12021

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

When does Mercer County flood?

September accounts for the most flood losses (540 claims, 22%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January2058%
February361%
March723%
April34814%
May372%
June46319%
July25010%
August40016%
September54022%
October482%
November70%
December261%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20262$0
20251$0
202412$47K
20235$12K
20223$9K
2021161$11.4M
20204$6K
20195$18K
201819$67K
20171$0
201612$215K
20155$0
201412$159K
201312$53K
201216$10K
2011408$15.2M
201024$64K
200920$350K
20082$4K
200782$2.4M
2006243$2.7M
2005226$2.8M
2004153$921K
200314$16K
20022$17K
200118$43K
20003$2K
1999130$3.9M
19982$813
19973$2K
1996237$4.2M
199469$759K
19937$28K
199213$348K
19915$2K
19902$4K
198927$515K
1987118$966K
19862$206K
19852$0
198434$134K
198328$149K
198210$23K
198128$60K
198018$42K
1979134$265K
197898$340K

Neighboring counties

Mercer County borders 5 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Mercer County (this page)2,432$48.4M29%
Monmouth County20,039$937.5M18%
Somerset County6,502$239.8M24%
Middlesex County5,251$164.6M26%
Burlington County2,180$29.4M27%
Hunterdon County1,572$39.6M19%

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

Common questions about flooding in Mercer County

Has Mercer County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2026-08-27, and claims were filed in 10 of the last 10 years (213 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 29% of Mercer 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.

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About these numbers

Figures are aggregated from FEMA’s OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims dataset (county FIPS 34021, 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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