You buy a house in a US community with real hurricane or earthquake risk. Out of 100 such communities, how many enforce an up-to-date building code?

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Only 35% of US communities facing real hurricane, flood, or earthquake risk enforce a current building code, meaning the latest or previous edition with the storm and quake provisions intact. The national model code is rewritten every three years, and FEMA's own study found modern codes avoid at least $32 billion in disaster losses over 20 years.

Only 35% of hurricane- and earthquake-prone US communities enforce a current building code.

Source: FEMA Building Code Adoption Tracking · checked Sep 2026