Boca Raton Flood Insurance and Flood Zones: What 177 Claims Paid in 10 Years

This page is about the City of Boca Raton, not all of Palm Beach County. The city runs its own flood program, so Boca Raton has its own discount and its own claim record: 177 claims paid in the last 10 years. For the countywide picture, see the Palm Beach County flood insurance guide.

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City of Boca Raton flood insurance in 5 numbers

Boca Raton flood zones: which 2 maps matter?

Two different maps answer two different questions in the City of Boca Raton.

FEMA's flood study for Palm Beach County, revised December 20, 2024, lists zones A, AE, AH, AO and VE, plus lower-risk X areas, inside the City of Boca Raton. Zone D, where the risk has not been studied, shows up only in unincorporated Palm Beach County, not in the city.

Zones that start with A or V are high-risk areas. A home there with a federally backed mortgage must carry flood insurance. Zone X has no federal requirement, but floods do not stop at map lines.

Boca Raton has 14,992 NFIP policies (July 2026), and 44.3% of them are rated in an A or V zone. That means more than half of the city's policies are in lower-risk zones, bought by owners no lender forced to buy. You can see the official flood maps at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center.

Your evacuation zone is a separate thing. It marks the areas storm surge may reach, so it tells you when to leave. The county's lookup gives your evacuation zone from your address. It does not tell you your flood zone.

What does flood insurance cost in the City of Boca Raton?

The average NFIP policy in the City of Boca Raton costs $587 a year. Read that number with care. It is an average per policy, and condo units count one each. The city has 14,992 policies on 6,739 policy records, because one condo building policy can cover many units. That pulls the average down. It is not what a typical single-family home pays. Three things move your own price.

1. Same flood zone, very different prices. Your flood zone decides if a lender requires flood insurance. The price depends on the home itself: how high the first floor sits, what it would cost to rebuild, and how often that spot floods. The average NFIP premium in Boca Raton is $587 per policy, but two Boca Raton homes on the same block can get very different prices. An elevation certificate may lower an NFIP price. A lender must also accept a private policy that meets the federal rules.

2. The City of Boca Raton's own 25% discount. The City of Boca Raton is its own NFIP community. It earns its own Community Rating System (CRS) score. FEMA's Community Status Book rates the city Class 5, worth a 25% discount on NFIP premiums for eligible policies. The class took effect on April 1, 2025. Other Palm Beach County cities have their own classes, so two addresses a few miles apart can get different discounts. Under Risk Rating 2.0 the city's discount applies city-wide.

Confirm your 25% credit is applied. If your home is inside City of Boca Raton limits, check your declarations page for the CRS credit. Check my address to confirm which community your home is in.

3. The claim record around you. The City of Boca Raton has 769 NFIP claims on record all time, and 177 of them came in the last 10 years. Those 177 claims paid $8,467,416. In a city where most policies sit outside the high-risk zones, that record is a reminder that flood water does not check the map first.

Palm Beach County emergency numbers for Boca Raton residents

These are county offices. They serve City of Boca Raton residents too. Flood rules and permits inside the city belong to the City of Boca Raton.

Shelters. Boca Raton High School, 1501 NW 15th Ct, is the one county risk shelter inside Boca Raton city limits. West Boca Raton High School at 12811 Glades Rd has a Boca Raton mailing address but sits outside the city, in unincorporated Palm Beach County. The county's pet-friendly site on its list is the West Boynton Recreational Center at 6000 Northtree Blvd. in Lake Worth. The county lists 15 risk shelters and says not all of them open at the same time. A listed site is not a promise that it opens for the next storm. Check the Palm Beach County shelter page once an order is issued.

People who need help to evacuate can sign up ahead of time on the county's special needs registry. For storm alerts, sign up for AlertPBC.

If your Boca Raton home floods: 5 steps

1. Stay safe. Do not walk or drive through flood water.
2. Take photos and video of every room before you clean up.
3. Call your insurance company and file the claim fast.
4. Make a list of damaged items. Keep receipts for cleanup and repairs.
5. Ask the City of Boca Raton about permits before you rebuild.

The 50% rule. If repairs cost 50% or more of the building's market value, federal rules call the home "substantially damaged." It must then be brought up to current flood rules, which can mean raising it. In the last 10 years, flood insurance paid $8,467,416 on claims inside the City of Boca Raton. The City of Boca Raton runs its own flood rules as its own NFIP community, so ask the city how it counts the cost. Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage on an NFIP policy can help pay for that work.

5 Palm Beach County storms behind these numbers

Claims by storm are kept for the whole county, not the city alone. These are Palm Beach County figures. The City of Boca Raton's own 10-year total is the $8,467,416 above.

Named storms are not the whole story in Palm Beach County. Across the county, 65% of the flood insurance money paid in the past 10 years, $10,312,195 on 536 claims, went to rain and other floods that FEMA never tied to a named storm. A storm does not need a name to flood a Boca Raton home.

Buying or closing in Boca Raton? Read this first

About 4 in 10 City of Boca Raton policies sit in a high-risk zone. If your home is in one and you have a federally backed mortgage, your lender will ask for proof of flood insurance before closing. Ask the Boca Raton seller for an elevation certificate and ask whether the seller's flood policy can be assigned to you at closing. Many Boca Raton policies are condo units, so if you are buying a condo, ask the association for its building flood policy too.

NFIP flood policies have a 30-day waiting period. The big exception: if you buy the policy as part of getting, refinancing, increasing, extending or renewing a loan on the home, coverage can start at closing with no wait, as long as the application and payment are in by closing. If a new flood map just put your home in a high-risk zone, you can buy within 13 months of the map date and wait only one day. A lender asking for flood coverage partway through an existing loan does not skip the wait. Private flood policies set their own waiting periods, often shorter. Palm Beach County's December 20, 2024 map revision is past that 13-month window.

In Boca Raton, 44.3% of NFIP policies (July 2026) are rated in an A or V zone, where a federally backed mortgage requires flood insurance. All major lenders accept private flood insurance under federal guidelines. The policy has to meet the federal definition of private flood insurance, so look for that statement on the policy or ask your lender. Private flood can cost less for some Boca Raton homes and more for others. What a lender can require.

Buying in Boca Raton? Start with the buyer guide

City of Boca Raton flood insurance: 6 questions

How much is flood insurance in the City of Boca Raton? The NFIP average is $587 per policy, per FEMA records from July 2026. Condo units count one each, so a single-family home in Boca Raton can pay much more or less. Your price depends on your home.

Does the City of Boca Raton get a flood insurance discount? Yes. FEMA rates the City of Boca Raton Class 5 in the Community Rating System, worth 25% off NFIP premiums for eligible policies, since April 1, 2025.

Is the Boca Raton discount the same as Palm Beach County's? No. The City of Boca Raton is its own NFIP community with its own class. Unincorporated Palm Beach County has its own row, and so does each other city in the county.

How long is the wait for a new flood policy in Boca Raton? Boca Raton's 14,992 NFIP policies (July 2026) follow federal rules: 30 days for a standard NFIP purchase. No wait when the policy is bought as part of getting, refinancing, increasing, extending or renewing a loan on the home. One day when a new flood map just placed the home in a high-risk zone (within 13 months of the map date).

What evacuation zone am I in? Use the Palm Beach County evacuation zone lookup with your address. Your evacuation zone tells you when to leave. It is not your flood zone.

Do I need flood insurance in zone X in Boca Raton? A lender does not have to require it in zone X. Many Boca Raton owners buy it anyway, because rain floods homes outside high-risk zones too.

Explore Palm Beach County and Florida flood guides

• Palm Beach County flood insurance: the county numbers, storms and contacts
• City of Pompano Beach flood insurance: a coastal Broward city to the south
• Broward County flood insurance: the county just south
• Florida flood insurance: the state picture
• The 30-day wait and its exceptions
• Flood insurance questions, answered

Sources: OpenFEMA NFIP policies and claims (FEMA, data as of July 4, 2026, split to the City of Boca Raton by Census block group); FEMA NFIP Community Status Book, City of Boca Raton row (read November 12, 2026); FEMA Flood Insurance Study 12099CV001B, Palm Beach County, revised December 20, 2024; OpenFEMA NFIP claims by storm, Palm Beach County; Palm Beach County Office of Emergency Management, Know Your Zone, shelter and special needs pages (read November 11, 2026); U.S. Census Geocoder, shelter addresses checked against city limits (read November 12, 2026); U.S. Census 2020 and 2024 Gazetteer.

Lender says you need flood insurance? Read what the law requires and what you still choose.

Own a business, condo or apartment building in Boca Raton? Read the Florida commercial flood insurance guide.

Page data last verified 2026-11-12. Every figure links to the federal or county record it came from.