FEMA Community Rating System (CRS) Explained

The Community Rating System (CRS) is a voluntary program within the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that rewards communities for doing more than the minimum required to manage flood risk. Created in 1990, the CRS encourages cities and counties to adopt higher standards for floodplain management, public outreach, and flood damage reduction.

Over 1,500 communities across the United States currently participate in the CRS. When a community earns a higher CRS class, every NFIP policyholder in that community receives an automatic discount on their flood insurance premium. The better the class, the larger the discount.

The program benefits everyone: communities become more resilient to flooding, property owners pay less for insurance, and the overall cost of flood damage decreases over time. Communities that invest in floodplain management activities like open space preservation, stormwater management, and public education earn credit points that determine their CRS class.

The CRS uses a scale of 10 classes. Class 1 represents the highest level of floodplain management and earns the largest discount, while Class 10 is the default for all NFIP communities that do not participate in the CRS. Communities earn credit points for specific activities, and the total points determine the class.

The CRS class is assigned to an entire community (city or county), not to individual properties. Every NFIP policyholder within a participating community receives the same percentage discount based on that community's class.

There are two easy ways to check your community's CRS class:

• Check your city page on FludZone. We display CRS class and discount information for participating communities. Search for your city using the states and cities directory.
• Check the FEMA CRS Communities list. FEMA publishes a complete list of all CRS communities with their current class and effective date. This list is updated periodically as communities enter, exit, or change classes within the program.
• Ask your insurance agent. Your NFIP insurance agent or Write Your Own (WYO) company can confirm whether your community participates in the CRS and what discount applies to your policy.

When FEMA introduced Risk Rating 2.0 in 2021, some policyholders wondered whether CRS discounts would continue. The answer is yes. CRS discounts still apply under Risk Rating 2.0 and are applied on top of the new individually rated premiums.

Under Risk Rating 2.0, FEMA first calculates your base premium using property-specific factors like flood frequency, distance to water, elevation, and cost to rebuild. The CRS discount is then applied as a percentage reduction to that base premium. This means the CRS discount works the same way it always has, just applied to the new Risk Rating 2.0 premium instead of the old zone-based rate.

For communities with strong CRS classes, this can result in meaningful savings even as some premiums increase under Risk Rating 2.0. The CRS discount helps offset premium increases for policyholders in participating communities.

The CRS discount is applied automatically to every NFIP policy in a participating community. You do not need to apply for it or take any special action. Here is a concrete example of how it works.

The discount applies to the premium portion of your NFIP bill. Federal surcharges and fees (such as the HFIAA Surcharge, Federal Policy Fee, and Reserve Fund Assessment) are not subject to CRS discounts.

Properties in the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) receive the full CRS discount percentage. Properties outside the SFHA receive a smaller discount (5% to 10% depending on the class). This is because SFHA properties face the highest flood risk and benefit most from community mitigation efforts.

If you have a federally regulated or government-backed mortgage on a property in the SFHA, your lender requires flood insurance. The CRS discount reduces the cost of that required coverage, making the mandatory insurance requirement less expensive for homeowners in participating communities.