We examine the total cost of flooding and wildfires in the U.S. from 1980 to 2024 by outlining the cumulative cost by state in the following two heatmaps. Data was compiled from the National Centers for Environmental Information.
U.S. Natural Disasters: The Cost of Flooding
- Iowa had the largest flooding cost at $24.74 billion, followed by Louisiana at $21.52 billion and California at $19.21 billion.
U.S. Natural Disasters: The Cost of Wildfires
- California had the largest cost for wildfires at $100.06 billion (for the period 1980 – 2024), followed by Colorado at $7.23 billion and Oregon at $5.90 billion.
- The next chart highlights the number of natural disasters in the U.S. that exceeded $1 billion in total costs from 2015 to 2024.
- The costliest two years were in 2023 with 28 natural disasters, followed by 2024 with 27 natural disasters, all exceeding $1 billion in costs.
- The last chart illustrates the most expensive billion dollar natural disasters in the U.S. by month/year. The most expensive year was 2017 at $396 billion, followed by 2005 at $269 billion. Total costs in 2024 were $183 billion.
- The average (shown in black) for the time period 1980 – 2024 was $65 billion.
