Logo courtesy of Sacramento County

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has renewed Sacramento County as a Class 2 in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS).

The rating allows residents and businesses within Special Flood Hazard Areas of unincorporated Sacramento County to receive a 40-percent discount on flood insurance for most National Flood Insurance Program policies issued or renewed on or after Oct. 1, 2026.

Through the Community Rating System program, the Federal Emergency Management Agency ranks communities based on a point system for activities implemented to reduce flood risk. This includes promoting mitigation measures to the public, implementing flood warning systems and promoting the purchase of flood insurance.

The ranking ranges from 10 (lowest) to 1 (highest). According to Federal Emergency Management Agency, there are 22,600 participating National Flood Insurance Program communities. Nationwide, there are 1,504 communities taking part in the Community Rating System program.

Nationwide, there are two Class 1 Community Rating System communities and 10 Community Rating System Class 2 communities. California has 97 Community Rating System Communities with only one Class 1 community and one Class 2 community, which is Sacramento County.

“In the unincorporated parts of Sacramento County, we have 4,539 properties that purchase their flood insurance coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program,” said Department of Water Resources Director Matt Satow. 

 “The Class 2 rating we have achieved and corresponding 40% discount will save our residents over $500,000 in 2026 on their flood insurance policies and on average, $121 per policy,” Satow said.

When Sacramento County joined the program in 1992, Federal Emergency Management Agency initially gave the County a Class 9 rating. Over the years, Sacramento County’s Department of Water Resources has steadily worked to improve its rating by meeting the criteria set by Federal Emergency Management Agency to protect Special Flood Hazard Areas of unincorporated Sacramento County.  

The first Class 2 was awarded in 2017. The renewal of the Class 2 rating comes as the county embarks on its update of the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. The plan is updated every five years to address the list of hazards and assessed risks that make the area vulnerable.

The updated plan will help improve the resilience of Sacramento County to weather future disasters. The Local Hazard Mitigation Plan allows agencies to apply for pre- and post-disaster mitigation grant funding and lessen the cost of flood insurance to the residents of Sacramento County, and the surrounding cities through Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program.  

You can learn more about the Sacramento County’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan online at stormready.org and the county’s Class 2 status at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Community Rating System visualization website at crsviz.com.