Clearwater Flood Zones and Flood Insurance: What 10 Years of Claims Paid

This page is about the City of Clearwater, not all of Pinellas County. The city runs its own flood program, so it has its own discount and its own claim record. For the countywide picture, see the Pinellas County flood insurance guide.

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City of Clearwater flood insurance in 5 numbers

FEMA does not mark the city on each policy. These Clearwater numbers are built from Census neighborhoods (block groups) split by where the homes are, and some neighborhoods cross the city line. That is why they are rounded and say "about."

What does flood insurance cost in the City of Clearwater?

The average NFIP policy in the City of Clearwater costs about $930 a year. Read that number with care. It is an average per policy, and condo units count one each. The city has about 12,600 policies on about 4,400 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. Two homes on the same Clearwater 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 Clearwater's own 25% discount. The City of Clearwater 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. Unincorporated Pinellas and the other Pinellas 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 Clearwater 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 Clearwater has about 2,900 NFIP claims on record all time, and about 1,610 of them came in the last 10 years. That record is why lenders ask for proof of flood coverage, and why how often your own spot floods matters to the price.

Clearwater flood zones: which 2 maps matter?

Two different maps answer two different questions in the City of Clearwater.

The flood maps used in Pinellas County show zones AE, AH, AO and VE, plus lower-risk X areas, per the county's flood map page. That list is countywide, not checked for the city alone. 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.

The City of Clearwater's current flood maps took effect on August 24, 2021. You can see your zone on the Pinellas County flood zone map or on the official maps at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. Your evacuation zone is a different map. Find it on Know Your Zone, on your Pinellas utility bill, or by phone at (727) 453-3150.

New maps are coming for part of Clearwater. FEMA has drawn preliminary flood maps for the Alligator Creek watershed, which covers parts of Clearwater, Safety Harbor and unincorporated Pinellas. They show roughly 1,390 acres in the 100-year floodplain, compared to about 975 acres on the current maps, per the county's Alligator Creek page. The preliminary maps are not in effect yet. If your home is near Alligator Creek, look it up on the county's page.

Pinellas emergency numbers for Clearwater residents

These are county offices that serve Clearwater residents too.

Shelters. Pinellas County keeps a standing list of shelters and opens them as needed for each storm. Five of them are in Clearwater: Belleair Elementary, 1156 Lakeview Rd.; Clearwater Fundamental Middle, 1660 Palmetto St.; McMullen-Booth Elementary, 3025 Union St.; Ross Norton, 1426 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.; and Skycrest Elementary, 10 N. Corona Ave. None of the five is listed as pet friendly. The nearest pet-friendly shelter on the list is Largo High School, 410 Missouri Ave. N., Largo. Dunedin Middle, 70 Patricia Ave., Dunedin, serves people with special needs. Not all shelters open for every storm. Before you go, check which ones are open on Know Your Zone or the county shelter page, or call the County Information Center at (727) 464-4333 during a storm.

More help: Pinellas County emergency information.

If your Clearwater 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 Clearwater about permits before you repair or 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. The City of Clearwater runs its own flood rules, so ask the city how it counts the cost before you start work. Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage on an NFIP policy can help pay for that work.

5 Pinellas storms behind these numbers

Claims by storm are kept for the whole county, not the city alone. These are Pinellas County figures. The City of Clearwater's own 10-year total is about $214.3 million, shown above.

Hurricane Helene alone paid $3,209,654,225 in NFIP claims across Pinellas County, more than the other four storms in this table put together. One storm can change a whole county's flood record.

Buying or closing in Clearwater? Read this first

More than 8 in 10 City of Clearwater 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 seller for an elevation certificate and ask whether the seller's flood policy can be assigned to you at closing.

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. Clearwater's August 24, 2021 maps are past that 13-month window.

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 Clearwater homes and more for others. What a lender can require.

City of Clearwater flood insurance: 6 questions

How much is flood insurance in the City of Clearwater? The NFIP average is about $930 per policy, per FEMA records from July 2026. Condo units count one each, so a single-family home can pay much more or less. Your price depends on your home.

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

Is the Clearwater discount the same as the rest of Pinellas County? No. The City of Clearwater is its own NFIP community with its own class. Unincorporated Pinellas and the other Pinellas cities have their own.

How long is the wait for a new flood policy in Clearwater? 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? Look it up on the county's Know Your Zone tool at kyz.pinellas.gov, check your Pinellas utility bill, or call (727) 453-3150. Your evacuation zone is not your FEMA flood zone.

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

Explore Pinellas and Florida flood guides

• Pinellas County flood insurance: the county numbers, storms and contacts
• Pinellas County flood zone map: see the zones on a map
• St. Petersburg flood insurance: the city to the south
• Hillsborough County flood insurance: across the bay in Tampa
• 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 Clearwater by Census block group and 2020 housing units; rounded because the split is an estimate); FEMA NFIP Community Status Book, City of Clearwater row (read November 4, 2026); Pinellas County Emergency Management, Know Your Zone, shelter and flood map pages (read July 3, 2026 to November 4, 2026); U.S. Census 2020 and 2024 Gazetteer.

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

Page data last verified 2026-11-04. Every figure links to the federal or county record it came from.