County Hazards

States › Maryland › Howard County › ZIP 21042

ZIP code 21042, Howard County, Maryland

National Flood Insurance Program claims and payouts recorded for this ZIP code, with county context.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

ZIP code 21042, in Howard County, Maryland, has 67 National Flood Insurance Program claims in the OpenFEMA record since 1978, 45 of them paid for a total of $1.0M.

That is 15.9% of the 422 claims recorded across Howard County. The average paid claim in the ZIP is $23K, lower than the county average of $55K and the Maryland average of $23K.

FEMA counts 4 repetitive-loss properties and 0 severe repetitive-loss properties in the ZIP (properties with two or more paid flood claims); their locations are not published.

At county level FEMA counts 816 residential flood policies in force, covering 0.8% of residential structures.

67NFIP claims since 1978
45paid claims
$1.0Mtotal paid
$23Kaverage paid claim

Compared with the county and state

MeasureZIP 21042HowardMarylandUS
Claims since 19786742225,3762,680,429
Share of claims paid67%68%59%78%
Average paid claim$23K$55K$23K$43K
Share of county claims15.9%100%——
Repetitive-loss properties4461,305—

Claims by year of loss

197820022026
NFIP claims in ZIP 21042 by year of loss, 1978 to 2026.
DecadeClaimsPaid
1970s3$1,374
1980s2$18,600
1990s2$34,668
2000s5$45,223
2010s51$946,129
2020s4$0
Year of lossClaimsPaid claimsAmount paidAverage paid
202410$0—
202320$0—
202110$0—
201910$0—
20181411$185,987$16,908
20161815$400,077$26,672
201421$23,551$23,551
20111611$336,514$30,592
200910$0—
200643$45,223$15,074
199911$16,756$16,756
199611$17,912$17,912
198910$0—
198111$18,600$18,600
197931$1,374$1,374

Claims are counted by year of loss as recorded in OpenFEMA's redacted NFIP claims file; amounts combine building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments. ZIP codes in the file are the policyholder's reported ZIP.

County context: Howard County

Howard County has 856 weather events in the NCEI record since 1950 (21 in the last 12 months), 22 federal disaster declarations, and an overall National Risk Index rating of "Relatively Low". Flood-type events recorded in the county: 167; hurricane-strength tracks within 50 miles: 1.

Hail: 55 · Tornado: 20 · Flood: 167 · Wind: 382 · Winter: 113 — full county page.

Questions and answers

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in ZIP 21042?

67 claims since 1978 in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file, 45 of them with a payment.

How much has the NFIP paid out in ZIP 21042?

$1.0M across 45 paid claims (building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments combined), about $23K per paid claim.

Which year had the most flood claims in 21042?

2016, with 18 claims and $400K paid.

What county is ZIP 21042 in?

Most claims in this ZIP carry the county code for Howard County, Maryland; ZIP codes can cross county lines. The county page carries the storm record, declarations and risk index for the area.

Provenance

OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (as of 8 Sep 2026) and NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026), aggregated by ZIP code and year of loss on this site; no property-level record is shown. County storm figures from NOAA NCEI through 30 Jun 2026. Built 1 Oct 2026. See the guide to redacted NFIP claims and the methodology.