King County, Washington

King County, Washington has a very high overall risk from natural hazards in FEMA's National Risk Index. Its risk score is in the top 1% of US counties. It ranks 1st of 39 counties in Washington. The costliest hazards here are earthquakes, inland flooding and heat waves. FEMA estimates about $1.7 billion a year in expected losses, or roughly $741 per resident. Since 1964 it has been included in 33 federal disaster or emergency declarations for natural events (30 major disasters). The most recent was in April 2026 (severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides and mudslides). Fewer than 1 in 100 homes here carry federal flood insurance (4,529 policies). Since 1978, federal flood insurance has paid about $66 million on 3,384 claims here.

FEMA National Risk Index December 2025; OpenFEMA declarations to Nov 6, 2026; NFIP records. Updated November 6, 2026.

Scores are percentiles: a score of 90 means higher risk than about 90% of US counties for that hazard. Hazards FEMA does not rate here are left out. Social vulnerability is very low and community resilience is very high in FEMA's measures.

The National Weather Service has logged 72 storm reports in King County since 1956, with 2 deaths and 25 injuries and about $117 million in reported damage. The strongest on record here was an F3 tornado on December 12, 1969.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, county-based reports through Dec 5, 2023. Tornado records start in 1950, hail and wind in 1955, and floods and other storm types in 1996, so older decades undercount. Damage is in dollars of the year it happened and is often an estimate. Winter storms, heat and hurricanes are logged by forecast zone, not county, so they are not counted here.

National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) records only; private flood policies are not included. Home counts as of Aug 3, 2026. Since 2021 NFIP prices each home separately under Risk Rating 2.0, so your price depends on the building, not the county. Ask an agent for a quote.

Older homes and mobile homes usually suffer more damage in storms, floods and earthquakes, and can cost more to insure. If you are buying, ask about roof age, foundation bolting and any retrofits. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates; 1,003,284 housing units.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, and NFIP policy and claims data. Hazard Compass is independent and not affiliated with FEMA. These figures describe the whole county, not a single property, and are not insurance or safety advice. Report a problem.