Flood Zone X: What You Need to Know | Insurify (2024)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) identifies flood zones on Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs).^[1] The different flood zone categorizations correlate with a land area’s risk of flooding. Areas labeled in Zone X have a minimal to moderate flood hazard.^[2]

Knowing your flood zone is important so you can understand the flood risks your property faces. You should always make sure you have the home insurance coverage you need, including a flood insurance policy if you live in an area at risk of flooding.

Here’s what you need to know about Zone X and finding your flood zone.

What is Flood Zone X?

Flood Zone X describes a land area with minimal to moderate flood hazard, depending on whether it’s shaded or unshaded.

FEMA publishes FIRMS that serve as official community maps to define special flood hazard areas (SFHAs) and the community’s specific flood zones. SFHAs are high-risk flood zones. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) uses these maps for insurance purposes, as well as floodplain management and mitigation.^[3]

Though people living in Zone X aren’t at a high risk, flooding can still occur and cause damage. About 25% of flood insurance claims filed nationwide are in areas with low or moderate risk of flooding.^[4]

If you live in a Zone X community that participates in the NFIP, you have the option to buy flood insurance, but you don’t have to. But homeowners in SFHAs must purchase flood insurance.

Shaded

Zone X can be shaded or unshaded on the FIRM. A shaded Zone X represents a moderate flood hazard area.

SFHAs — also sometimes called base flood zones — fall at or below base flood elevation (BFE). Properties at or below BFE are in a 100-year floodplain, meaning they have a 1% chance of flooding in a given year.

Properties in shaded Zone X or Zone B have a level of flood risk between the limits of 100-year and 500-year floods, the latter of which has a 0.2% chance of flooding each year.^[5]

Unshaded

An unshaded Zone X is an area of minimal flood hazard, which presents less of a hazard than a shaded Zone X.

Unshaded Zone X has protection by a levee from a 100-year flood and falls outside the 500-year flood range.^[6]

Despite living in a low-risk area, you should still pay extra attention to your immediate surroundings. Areas of ponding and other poor drainage areas could cause shallow flooding in an unshaded Zone X, even if those potential problems weren’t big enough to warrant a higher risk rating from FEMA.

How to find your flood zone

You can find your property’s flood zone on FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center (MSC).^[7] You’ll need to enter your address to see your property’s flood zone and estimated flood risk.

FIRMs from FEMA help you understand your flood risk and serve as a good starting indicator of your flood insurance premium. FEMA quantifies flood zone risk by an area’s annual chance of flooding.

Other flood zone designations

FEMA has flood zone types with a low, moderate, and high risk of flooding. Homes with a high risk of flooding face a much greater chance of flooding. Such areas can face additional hazards, like water surge hazards from a severe storm or natural disaster.

Here’s a quick guide to the main flood zone designations. Compare flood insurance requirements, risk levels, and details below.^[8]

Do you need coverage from the National Flood Insurance Program?

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is a federal program that helps provide affordable flood insurance for property owners. It also helps with environmental planning so communities can develop and maintain floodplain management regulations. You must live in an NFIP community in order to purchase flood insurance through the program, which sells coverage through NFIP and private insurance partners.^[9]

If you live in a high-risk SFHA, you have to purchase flood insurance. Even if you live in an area with a low or moderate risk of flooding, purchasing flood insurance through a private insurer or the NFIP is a good idea.

Flood Zone X FAQs

1. New York City Department of City Planning. "Climate Resiliency Initiatives - Frequently Asked Questions."
2. FEMA. "Flood Zones."
3. FEMA. "How to Read a Flood Map."
4. FEMA. "Flood Insurance and the NFIP."
5. FEMA. "Zone B and X (Shaded)."
6. FEMA. "Zone C or X (Unshaded)."
7. FEMA. "Navigation Search MSC Home MSC Search by Address MSC Search All Products MSC Products and Tools Hazus LOMC Batch Files Product Availability MSC Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) MSC Email Subscriptions Contact MSC Help Main Content FEMA Flood Map Service Center."
8. What are Flood Zones and Maps?. "FEMA."
9. FEMA. "How To Buy Flood Insurance."

Katie Powers is an insurance writer at Insurify with a producer’s license for property and casualty insurance in Massachusetts and expertise in personal finance and auto insurance topics. She strives to help consumers make better financial decisions. Prior to joining Insurify, she completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Emerson College. Her work has been published in St. Louis Magazine, the Boston Globe, and elsewhere. Connect with Katie on LinkedIn.