Data · May 2026 data · 13-month trend
California Flood Insurance Costs
Flood insurance policies newly written or renewed in California during May 2026 carried an average premium of $1,104. Premiums there are 12.4% higher than the $982 national figure. The figure is up 7.3% year over year. 11,202 policies were written or renewed statewide that month; Siskiyou County was the priciest county at $2,555 on average.
What we measure: Average premium among policies newly written or renewed that month (NFIP transactions) — not the official in-force average. OpenFEMA transaction data is published on a lag of roughly two months; the latest period shown reflects that lag.
Key facts — May 2026
- Average premium
- $1,104
- Avg total cost (with fees)
- $1,440
- Change (year over year)
- +7.3%
- vs national average
- +12.4%
- Policies written or renewed
- 11,202
- Counties reporting
- 57
California trend, last 13 months
Average premium among policies newly written or renewed each month. Bars scale to the highest month shown.
| Month | Avg premium | Premium relative to highest month | Avg total cost | Policies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2025 | $1,028 | $1,352 | 12,297 | |
| June 2025 | $1,037 | $1,364 | 12,123 | |
| July 2025 | $1,031 | $1,355 | 11,975 | |
| August 2025 | $985 | $1,296 | 12,782 | |
| September 2025 | $924 | $1,220 | 14,742 | |
| October 2025 | $948 | $1,249 | 16,384 | |
| November 2025 | $926 | $1,220 | 17,435 | |
| December 2025 | $931 | $1,230 | 18,033 | |
| January 2026 | $959 | $1,265 | 15,323 | |
| February 2026 | $976 | $1,283 | 15,157 | |
| March 2026 | $1,004 | $1,321 | 14,581 | |
| April 2026 | $998 | $1,307 | 12,996 | |
| May 2026 | $1,104 | $1,440 | 11,202 |
County breakdown — May 2026
Sorted by average premium, highest first. Rows labeled with a FIPS code are reporting areas without a matched county name. Watch the policy count before reading much into small-county averages.
| County | Avg premium | Premium relative to highest county | Avg total cost | Policies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Siskiyou County | $2,555 | $3,260 | 13 | |
| Lassen County | $2,390 | $2,982 | 5 | |
| Napa County | $2,238 | $2,822 | 95 | |
| Del Norte County | $2,204 | $2,737 | 7 | |
| Plumas County | $2,095 | $2,679 | 5 | |
| Lake County | $2,015 | $2,532 | 85 | |
| Trinity County | $1,916 | $2,333 | 3 | |
| Tehama County | $1,806 | $2,287 | 51 | |
| San Benito County | $1,802 | $2,300 | 11 | |
| Amador County | $1,755 | $2,207 | 7 | |
| Santa Cruz County | $1,752 | $2,210 | 231 | |
| Monterey County | $1,751 | $2,239 | 100 | |
| Marin County | $1,613 | $2,019 | 662 | |
| Humboldt County | $1,598 | $2,064 | 32 | |
| San Mateo County | $1,559 | $1,986 | 376 | |
| Shasta County | $1,518 | $1,924 | 44 | |
| Mono County | $1,506 | $1,849 | 4 | |
| Santa Barbara County | $1,499 | $1,952 | 223 | |
| Mendocino County | $1,468 | $1,932 | 30 | |
| San Bernardino County | $1,429 | $1,852 | 144 | |
| Santa Clara County | $1,421 | $1,819 | 785 | |
| Sonoma County | $1,390 | $1,786 | 173 | |
| Yuba County | $1,368 | $1,755 | 82 | |
| San Luis Obispo County | $1,341 | $1,748 | 105 | |
| Solano County | $1,276 | $1,641 | 153 | |
| Contra Costa County | $1,267 | $1,614 | 229 | |
| Los Angeles County | $1,259 | $1,629 | 913 | |
| Modoc County | $1,249 | $1,627 | 11 | |
| Tuolumne County | $1,243 | $1,539 | 1 | |
| Ventura County | $1,196 | $1,552 | 267 | |
| San Francisco County | $1,195 | $1,542 | 15 | |
| Calaveras County | $1,189 | $1,522 | 19 | |
| Placer County | $1,175 | $1,526 | 57 | |
| San Diego County | $1,173 | $1,528 | 507 | |
| Riverside County | $1,151 | $1,507 | 255 | |
| El Dorado County | $1,115 | $1,478 | 20 | |
| Alameda County | $1,090 | $1,427 | 204 | |
| Orange County | $1,029 | $1,363 | 641 | |
| Yolo County | $962 | $1,263 | 130 | |
| Fresno County | $944 | $1,278 | 81 | |
| Butte County | $889 | $1,207 | 73 | |
| Madera County | $862 | $1,170 | 36 | |
| Tulare County | $832 | $1,122 | 328 | |
| Kern County | $823 | $1,095 | 295 | |
| Stanislaus County | $817 | $1,146 | 57 | |
| San Joaquin County | $774 | $1,084 | 242 | |
| Nevada County | $741 | $1,059 | 6 | |
| Merced County | $715 | $995 | 315 | |
| Inyo County | $692 | $889 | 2 | |
| Sacramento County | $685 | $926 | 2,756 | |
| Colusa County | $667 | $911 | 111 | |
| Imperial County | $663 | $930 | 3 | |
| Glenn County | $641 | $899 | 41 | |
| FIPS 06000 | $620 | $879 | 3 | |
| Kings County | $532 | $823 | 22 | |
| Sutter County | $526 | $784 | 106 | |
| Sierra County | $433 | $807 | 3 |
Use this data
Download California CSV (california.csv) — free to reuse with attribution. Read the full methodology for formulas, update cadence, and limitations. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP policy transaction data (FimaNfipPolicies).
"California Flood Insurance Costs." Out of the Storm News Flood Insurance Cost Index, May 2026, based on FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP policy transaction data. https://outofthestormnews.com/flood-insurance/costs/california
Related guides
Editorial context for reading these numbers — how NFIP coverage and pricing work in practice, and what a flood map does and doesn’t tell you.