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Somerset County, NJ flood insurance claims history

6,502 claims under the National Flood Insurance Program have been filed for flood losses in Somerset County since 1978, and FEMA has paid out $239.8M on them. The worst year was 2011 with 1,383 claims. Somerset County ranks #9 of 21 in New Jersey by claim count.

At a glance

  • 24% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 20% of all claims trace to a single event — Hurricane Irene (2011), which paid $55.2M 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 60% of the 21 New Jersey counties with any claims on file — and more than 3 of its 5 neighbors.
  • ZIP 08805 has the most claims in the county (1,957, 30%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
6,502
1978–2026
Total paid
$239.8M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
89%
5,767 received a payment
Average payout
$42K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
1,113
claims 2017 – 2026
Most recent loss
2026-07-09
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: 1,383 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 Somerset County

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Hurricane Irene1,330$55.2M$41K2011
Hurricane Floyd1,066$39.5M$37K1999
April 2007 Nor'easter989$38.2M$39K2007
Hurricane Ida826$67.5M$82K2021
March 2010 Nor'easter700$15.6M$22K2010
Flooding (FEMA general label)514$5.8M$11K1996
2025 July NYC Metro Area Flooding168$10.4M$62K2025
Not a named storm103$212K$2K1979
Mid-spring storms67$765K$11K2014
Hurricane Sandy36$64K$2K2012
Torrential rain (FEMA general label)16$219K$14K2005
December Nor'easter16$259K$16K2023

90% 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: 4,815 (74%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 0 (0%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 1,515 (23%)Zone not recorded: 172 (3%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)4,815$192.7M$40K
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)1,515$46.2M$31K
Zone not recorded172$853K$5K

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Stream, river or lake overflow3,01946%
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt2,95645%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)3235%
Other causes1582%
Not recorded290%
Alluvial fan overflow110%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Somerset County

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

088051,957$66.0M30%352025
088351,783$71.9M27%202024
08876408$26.4M6%292024
07060400$8.9M6%342025
08812304$8.6M5%232025
08844281$15.0M4%172025
08807258$8.2M4%302025
07063226$3.5M3%232025
08873105$4.2M2%202026
0888093$6.1M1%92021
0850287$2.4M1%192023
0792079$1.8M1%192024
0705960$499K1%252024
0855854$1.7M1%132023
0706244$675K1%102025
0854044$1.4M1%102021
0889040$1.6M1%52021
0706938$683K1%172025
0885336$2.1M1%102021
0792432$318K0%152023
0792132$1.2M0%72023
0793130$479K0%162024
0886919$3.7M0%112023
0883613$287K0%82021
0882313$61K0%92023
0855311$434K0%62021
0885010$574K0%32011
079348$51K0%62021
079778$373K0%62021
Not reported6$21K0%61996
088604$5K0%22010
088673$147K0%32021
074163$33K0%32011
70603$51K0%32025
079382$228K0%22021
884432$68K0%22021
076241$00%11983
088491$5210%11979
083761$82K0%11999
079221$00%12021
088751$00%11999
079791$5K0%12010

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

When does Somerset County flood?

September accounts for the most flood losses (2,000 claims, 31%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January2814%
February260%
March74311%
April1,09217%
May721%
June220%
July2714%
August1,40222%
September2,00031%
October5288%
November180%
December471%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20261$0
2025171$10.5M
202422$441K
202323$355K
20227$28K
2021858$68.3M
20204$13K
20198$29K
201812$100K
20177$27K
20165$17K
20156$13K
201472$809K
201313$204K
201239$64K
20111,383$56.1M
2010710$15.6M
200910$15K
20089$28K
20071,021$38.7M
200610$16K
200521$245K
200413$29K
200314$67K
20023$35K
20014$13K
200015$127K
19991,099$40.7M
19983$0
199711$126K
1996580$6.3M
19957$13K
199417$25K
199310$7K
19929$14K
19911$19K
19902$3K
198911$31K
19882$6K
19873$3K
19864$1K
19856$2K
198465$337K
198322$20K
198215$24K
19817$13K
19805$3K
1979133$264K
197829$23K

Neighboring counties

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

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Somerset County (this page)6,502$239.8M24%
Morris County9,463$201.0M10%
Union County7,525$163.8M25%
Middlesex County5,251$164.6M26%
Mercer County2,432$48.4M29%
Hunterdon County1,572$39.6M19%

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

Common questions about flooding in Somerset County

Has Somerset County flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2026-07-09, and claims were filed in 10 of the last 10 years (1,113 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 24% of Somerset 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 34035, 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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