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Ocean County, NJ flood insurance claims history

52,884 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Ocean County since 1978, and FEMA has paid out $2.61B on them. The worst year was 2012 with 37,797 claims. Ocean County ranks #1 of 21 in New Jersey by claim count.

At a glance

  • 4% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 71% of all claims trace to a single event — Hurricane Sandy (2012), which paid $2.49B 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.
  • The most flood claims of all 21 New Jersey counties with claims on file — and more than all 3 of its neighbors.
  • ZIP 08008 has the most claims in the county (14,165, 27%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
52,884
1978–2026
Total paid
$2.61B
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
86%
45,509 received a payment
Average payout
$57K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
568
claims 2017 – 2026
Most recent loss
2026-07-30
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: 37,797 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 Ocean County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Hurricane Sandy37,459$2.49B$66K2012
December Storm - Nor'easter6,757$66.4M$10K1992
Hurricane Irene1,080$18.0M$17K2011
Flooding (FEMA general label)935$2.7M$3K1984
The "Halloween" Storm673$2.7M$4K1991
Hurricane Gloria351$697K$2K1985
Flooding (FEMA general label)255$1.7M$7K1997
March 2010 Nor'easter251$1.7M$7K2010
Torrential rain (FEMA general label)153$1.6M$10K2005
Flooding (FEMA general label)146$788K$5K1998
Flooding (FEMA general label)106$189K$2K1980
Flooding (FEMA general label)69$182K$3K1992

91% 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: 49,194 (93%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 1,306 (2%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 2,016 (4%)Zone not recorded: 368 (1%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)49,194$2.44B$50K
Coastal high-risk V zones (V, VE, V1–V30)1,306$86.9M$67K
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)2,016$83.3M$41K
Zone not recorded368$2.0M$5K

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)25,12648%
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt21,40840%
Other causes3,2276%
Stream, river or lake overflow2,4095%
Alluvial fan overflow4461%
Not recorded2210%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Ocean County

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

0800814,165$433.8M27%492026
080875,342$249.1M10%472026
087534,903$295.7M9%492026
080504,647$270.1M9%452026
087354,427$263.8M8%452026
087424,079$239.9M8%432024
087512,777$215.2M5%382024
087232,491$166.0M5%372025
087311,522$36.1M3%432025
087211,500$62.4M3%402025
087521,442$50.5M3%372026
087381,329$159.9M3%332024
08758651$21.4M1%322025
08724638$33.9M1%332024
08734577$16.4M1%242025
08739537$40.1M1%252026
08740424$18.6M1%252026
08005380$10.7M1%342026
08006233$1.7M0%182025
08092229$7.2M0%252025
Not reported128$1.4M0%192012
0875779$4.2M0%172025
0873256$2.3M0%82012
0874144$2.1M0%112024
0853337$498K0%132024
0872236$1.3M0%82025
0870121$312K0%182025
0852721$57K0%112013
0875512$246K0%72026
0780111$427K0%62012
082157$74K0%51997
087546$218K0%42012
087595$2K0%42017
088824$98K0%32012
087333$5K0%31992
080583$17K0%32012
080093$89K0%21992
079223$28K0%22012
085123$15K0%21992
079013$146K0%32012
080032$19K0%21992
076522$7K0%21992
082512$32K0%22012
079602$4K0%22012
079282$111K0%12012
076312$00%21993
082262$83K0%22012
87422$30K0%22012
079202$8K0%21992
088022$154K0%22012
088052$12K0%21992
088082$18K0%12012
078432$89K0%22012
070422$13K0%21992
074702$1K0%22012
087282$39K0%22012
87512$74K0%22012
082242$104K0%22012
075082$7K0%21992
87532$134K0%22012
087301$89K0%12012
070321$18K0%11992
070061$136K0%12012
070661$15K0%11992
076421$17K0%12012
077401$3K0%12012
086001$23K0%11992
079361$00%12012
071051$5K0%11992
080771$5K0%12012
079001$4K0%11992
077331$126K0%12012
873521$24K0%12012
087251$48K0%12012
070291$3K0%11992
082341$145K0%12012
078511$195K0%12012
078391$139K0%12012
070021$5K0%11992
070521$155K0%12012
800821$2K0%12012
087361$188K0%12012
074171$3K0%12012
082601$00%11992
070031$114K0%12012
076621$132K0%12012
070951$5K0%11992
080751$3250%11992
076601$17K0%11992
070901$7K0%11993
080551$111K0%12012
087371$41K0%12012
088201$00%11992
079331$53K0%12012
080931$5K0%11984
080811$24K0%11992
077531$5680%11991
080601$61K0%12012
080801$3K0%12012
074241$20K0%12012
070831$2K0%11992
080841$5K0%11992
070621$16K0%11992
078481$00%11992
070541$00%12012
088061$00%12012
070791$00%11992
080001$8K0%11992
080891$11K0%11992
077541$96K0%12012
080461$2K0%11992
085731$163K0%12012
084061$8K0%12012
076261$4730%11992
089011$00%11993
875321$63K0%12012
087431$00%12012
087001$172K0%12012
088501$00%11995
067351$4K0%12012
086901$26K0%11992
077121$14K0%11992
070151$51K0%12012
074011$61K0%12012
072021$18K0%11992
080021$181K0%12012

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

When does Ocean County flood?

October accounts for the most flood losses (38,452 claims, 73%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January4531%
February4121%
March1,6793%
April2991%
May2090%
June1570%
July4301%
August1,7603%
September1,0992%
October38,45273%
November8772%
December7,05713%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
202613$41K
202571$1.5M
202487$841K
202332$219K
202268$473K
2021113$678K
202029$79K
201938$191K
201863$562K
201754$519K
201671$752K
201527$43K
2014144$973K
201364$310K
201237,797$2.49B
20111,156$18.4M
2010306$1.8M
2009161$1.4M
200859$397K
200770$201K
2006407$4.3M
2005380$5.5M
200429$137K
2003113$411K
200254$190K
200153$194K
2000124$697K
1999102$143K
1998387$1.2M
1997316$1.8M
1996155$684K
199580$260K
199497$354K
1993285$708K
19926,929$66.8M
1991887$3.1M
199017$2K
198977$85K
19888$3K
198799$96K
198631$17K
1985413$793K
1984962$2.8M
198332$21K
198239$70K
198114$1K
1980131$236K
1979140$105K
1978100$229K

Neighboring counties

Ocean County borders 3 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Ocean County (this page)52,884$2.61B4%
Atlantic County20,909$493.9M3%
Monmouth County20,039$937.5M18%
Burlington County2,180$29.4M27%

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

Common questions about flooding in Ocean County

Has Ocean County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2026-07-30, and claims were filed in 10 of the last 10 years (568 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 4% of Ocean 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 34029, 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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