States › North Carolina › Dare County › ZIP 27978
ZIP code 27978, Dare County, North Carolina
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 27978, in Dare County, North Carolina, has 193 National Flood Insurance Program claims in the OpenFEMA record since 1978, 169 of them paid for a total of $3.2M.
That is 1% of the 18,950 claims recorded across Dare County. The average paid claim in the ZIP is $19K, close to the county average of $17K and the North Carolina average of $28K.
FEMA counts 22 repetitive-loss properties and 1 severe repetitive-loss property in the ZIP (properties with two or more paid flood claims); their locations are not published.
At county level FEMA counts 12,409 residential flood policies in force, covering 39.7% of residential structures.
Compared with the county and state
| Measure | ZIP 27978 | Dare | North Carolina | US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claims since 1978 | 193 | 18,950 | 109,593 | 2,680,429 |
| Share of claims paid | 88% | 72% | 76% | 78% |
| Average paid claim | $19K | $17K | $28K | $43K |
| Share of county claims | 1.0% | 100% | — | — |
| Repetitive-loss properties | 22 | 1,426 | 11,713 | — |
Claims by year of loss
| Decade | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0 | $0 |
| 1980s | 4 | $16,672 |
| 1990s | 83 | $530,665 |
| 2000s | 32 | $150,149 |
| 2010s | 73 | $2,507,049 |
| 2020s | 1 | $0 |
| Year of loss | Claims | Paid claims | Amount paid | Average paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | $0 | — |
| 2018 | 3 | 2 | $3,566 | $1,783 |
| 2014 | 2 | 1 | $36,250 | $36,250 |
| 2011 | 68 | 66 | $2,467,233 | $37,382 |
| 2009 | 1 | 1 | $4,103 | $4,103 |
| 2008 | 1 | 0 | $0 | — |
| 2004 | 1 | 1 | $7,165 | $7,165 |
| 2003 | 29 | 25 | $138,880 | $5,555 |
| 1999 | 22 | 17 | $73,675 | $4,334 |
| 1998 | 23 | 18 | $62,002 | $3,445 |
| 1996 | 3 | 1 | $11,020 | $11,020 |
| 1993 | 35 | 34 | $383,968 | $11,293 |
| 1985 | 4 | 3 | $16,672 | $5,557 |
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: Dare County
Dare County has 312 weather events in the NCEI record since 1950 (7 in the last 12 months), 31 federal disaster declarations, and an overall National Risk Index rating of "Relatively Moderate". Flood-type events recorded in the county: 32; hurricane-strength tracks within 50 miles: 21.
Hail: 54 · Tornado: 40 · Flood: 32 · Wind: 173 · Winter: 0 — full county page.
Questions and answers
How many flood insurance claims have been filed in ZIP 27978?
193 claims since 1978 in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file, 169 of them with a payment.
How much has the NFIP paid out in ZIP 27978?
$3.2M across 169 paid claims (building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments combined), about $19K per paid claim.
Which year had the most flood claims in 27978?
2011, with 68 claims and $2.5M paid.
What county is ZIP 27978 in?
Most claims in this ZIP carry the county code for Dare County, North Carolina; 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.