Palm Beach flood zones, parcel by parcel
Of the 3,385 Palm Beach parcels we map, 2,057 (61%) sit in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area — where flood insurance is required with any federally backed mortgage. City-level answers hide that the line runs street by street; this is the actual parcel count, computed from Palm Beach County's effective FEMA layer.
The breakdown
| Zone | Parcels | Share | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| AE | 1,921 | 56.8% | High risk — inside the 1% annual chance floodplain |
| X | 1,245 | 36.8% | Minimal — outside the mapped floodplain |
| VE | 136 | 4% | Coastal high-hazard — storm waves on top of flooding |
| X500 | 83 | 2.5% | Moderate — 0.2% annual chance, the shaded X |
The median county market value of a flood-zone parcel in Palm Beach is $2,821,600, against $2,698,830 outside the floodplain. Here the flood zones track the water people pay to live near — the premium and the insurance bill come as a package, and buyers who budget only for the first are the ones surprised at closing.
68% of Palm Beach's flood-zone homes were built before 1975 — before the first FEMA maps applied here. Pre-FIRM buildings often sit below today's base flood elevation; an elevation certificate can move the premium by thousands either way, and substantial-improvement rules limit what you can renovate without elevating.
Check the exact parcel
Zone boundaries in Palm Beach run down the middle of streets and sometimes straight through lots. The designation that matters — for insurance, for lending, for what you can build — is the one on the panel covering your specific parcel, with its base flood elevation where one applies.
Check any Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach address
Flood zone and base flood elevation, zoning, comparable sales and the tax reset a buyer inherits. No sign-up.