Housing in the U.S. floodplains

This brief describes the housing stock in 100-year floodplains and combined 100- and 500- year floodplains in 2011-2015 in the U.S. During this period, five percent of all occupied housing units in the United States were located in the 100-year floodplain, and 10 percent were located in combined floodplains. Based on estimates from FloodzoneData.us, this brief describes the size of housing in U.S. floodplains, the shares that are rental and owner-occupied, the age of the housing, and whether the housing is government subsidized. These factors improve the assessment of flood risk and the challenges of retrofitting.