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Community Rating System

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The National Flood Insurance Program's (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) is a voluntary incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management activities that exceed the minimum NFIP requirements.

As a result, flood insurance premium rates are discounted to reflect the reduced flood risk resulting from the community actions meeting the three goals of the CRS:

  1. Reduce flood losses;
  2. Facilitate accurate insurance rating; and
  3. Promote the awareness of flood insurance.

Click here for the "NFIP CRS: The Local Official's Guide to Saving Lives, Preventing Property Damage, and Reducing the Cost of Flood Insurance" brochure

CRS Award for Excellence

Click here to learn about the CRS Award for Excellence.

The CRS Award for Excellence recognizes an individual who has provided leadership in the area of alerting residents to the dangers of flooding and promoting the purchase of flood insurance through the NFIP.

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How are Flood Insurance Premium Discounts Calculated?

For CRS participating communities, flood insurance premium rates are discounted in increments of 5%; i.e., a Class 1 community would receive a 45% premium discount, while a Class 9 community would receive a 5% discount (a Class 10 is not participating in the CRS and receives no discount). The CRS classes for local communities are based on 18 creditable activities, organized under four categories:

  1. Public Information,
  2. Mapping and Regulations,
  3. Flood Damage Reduction, and
  4. Flood Preparedness.

The CRS Resource Center is now available.

The table below shows the credit points earned, classification awarded, and premium reductions given for communities in the NFIP CRS.

Credit Points Class  Premium Reduction
SFHA*		 Premium Reduction
Non-SFHA**

4,500+

1

45%

10%

4,000 – 4,499

2

40%

10%

3,500 – 3,999

3

35%

10%

3,000 – 3,499

4

30%

10%

2,500 – 2,999

5

25%

10%

2,000 – 2,499

6

20%

10%

1,500 – 1,999

7

15%

5%

1,000 – 1,499

8

10%

5%

500 – 999

9

5%

5%

0 – 499

10

0

0
*Special Flood Hazard Area
**Preferred Risk Policies are available only in B, C, and X Zones for properties that are shown to have a minimal risk of flood damage. The Preferred Risk Policy does not receive premium rate credits under the CRS because it already has a lower premium than other policies. The CRS credit for AR and A99 Zones are based on non-Special Flood Hazard Areas (non-SFHAs) (B, C, and X Zones). Credits are: classes 1-6, 10% and classes 7-9, 5%. Premium reductions are subject to change.

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Additional Resources

CRS Communities and their Classes
These pages are from the most recent Flood Insurance Agent's Manual containing current and historical listings of all CRS communities, their class, and insurance discount.

Numbers of CRS Communities by State 
This link shows how many communities participate in the CRS in each state and the distribution of communities by CRS Class in each CRS Class.

NFIP/CRS Update Newsletter
A publication to provide local officials and others interested in the Community Rating System with news they can use.

NFIP CRS Coordinator's Manual
The Coordinator’s Manual contains the detailed guidance related to all activities of the CRS.  It is designed for local officials who implement the Community Rating System

The CRS Resource Center through FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) is now available.

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Last Modified: Friday, 13-Apr-2012 15:14:40 EDT