This policy brief evaluates how willingness to pay (WTP) for a flood protection system varies with exposure to flood risk, using detailed flood maps and parcel-level data to identify households within and just beyond the 100-year flood plain in New York City. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) designates the 100-year flood plain as an area that has at least a 1-in-100 (1%) chance of flooding in any given year. Thus, a home in the 100-year flood plain has a greater than 26% chance of flooding at least one time during the course of a 30-year mortgage. Homes located in the 100-year flood plain with a federally-backed mortgage are required to purchase flood insurance.³ The federally-run National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) sets its rates nationally, and currently administers more than 5.3 million policies across the United States.
