Does Chinatown flood?

Chinatown, San Francisco, CA · ZIP codes 94111, 94104 and 94102: the ZIP codes on most of the flood insurance claims counted here. ZIP codes do not follow neighborhood lines.

Yes. Insured properties in and around Chinatown have filed flood claims. About 16% of Chinatown’s mapped area is inside FEMA’s Special Flood Hazard Area; the rest is in moderate or minimal-hazard Zone X. NFIP flood insurance records list 51 claims from the Census block groups that cover Chinatown, from 1978 through 2024. 32 of them received a payment, totaling $1,297,302 (not adjusted for inflation). The busiest years were 1982 (37 claims), 1978 (4 claims), 1979 (4 claims).

What this page counts as Chinatown

We could not find an openly licensed official boundary for Chinatown, so this page uses a census-based area. For this page, Chinatown means the 2010 Census block groups whose center lies within 1.6 km (1.0 miles) of the U.S. Geological Survey (GNIS) map point for Chinatown (feature 1658274), each block group going to the nearest of the places we cover. Every number below is for exactly those block groups (listed in “How these numbers were made”), so the edges are approximate and may include or leave out a few blocks people would call Chinatown. Sources: U.S. Census Bureau TIGERweb, 2010 Census Block Groups and U.S. Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) domestic names.

Past claims do not predict future flooding, and a neighborhood figure cannot tell you about one building. Look up the exact address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center and get flood insurance quotes before you sign a lease or a contract.

Check a specific address in Chinatown

Neighborhood figures are averages. Our address check looks up the FEMA flood zone and California’s fire hazard severity zone at one address, from the same public maps: check if your address is in a flood zone.

Flood zones street by street in Chinatown

The named streets in Chinatown, longest first, with how much of each street’s length inside Chinatown lies in FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (the Special Flood Hazard Area, zones A and V). Length is the part inside Chinatown; the main zone is the FEMA zone covering most of that length. A street can cross several zones, so the zone at one address can differ from the street’s main zone: check the address above for that. 33 shorter streets are not listed.

Streets: U.S. Census Bureau TIGERweb, Transportation (primary, secondary and local roads). Flood zones: FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL), Flood Hazard Zones and FIRM Panels, retrieved October 25, 2026. Each street is clipped to the area boundary and measured in an equal-area projection. Street lengths are rounded.

Flood zones in Chinatown

Share of Chinatown’s mapped area (about 3.208 km²) in each FEMA flood zone, from FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL), Flood Hazard Zones and FIRM Panels. Mapped base flood elevations inside the neighborhood range from 10 to 11 feet. Effective date of the FIRM panel(s) covering it (0602980116A, 0602980117A): March 23, 2021.

What the zones mean

Zone AE (and A, AH, AO)

High-risk: part of the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), the area FEMA maps as having a 1-percent chance of flooding in any given year (the “100-year” or base flood). AE areas have a mapped base flood elevation.

Zone VE (and V)

High-risk coastal areas, also in the SFHA, where the base flood is expected to bring additional hazards from storm waves.

Zone X (shaded)

Moderate hazard: between the limits of the 1-percent and the 0.2-percent-annual-chance (“500-year”) flood.

Zone X (unshaded)

Minimal hazard: outside the SFHA and higher than the 0.2-percent-annual-chance flood elevation. Minimal is not zero: flood claims are filed from X zones too.

Source: FEMA Glossary: Flood Zones.

Flood insurance claims over time

Claims filed under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) from the 2010 Census block groups that cover Chinatown. This area is made of whole block groups, so every claim counted here comes from inside it. Only insured properties appear, so these counts understate total flooding.

By decade

By year of loss

Named flood events with the most claims

• Flooding: 5 claims
• California Atmospheric River: 1 claims

FEMA labels some events only as “Flooding”. Claims by the flood zone the property was rated in:

• A/AE/AH/AO (high risk): 42
• Not reported: 7
• X/B/C (moderate or minimal): 2

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Before you rent or buy in Chinatown

• Look up the exact address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center; a neighborhood can mix high-risk and minimal-hazard zones.
• Ask the landlord or seller about past flooding and flood insurance claims at the property.
• Get a flood insurance quote early: new NFIP policies usually take 30 days to start (FloodSmart (NFIP): Buy a Flood Insurance Policy).
• Ask which floor the unit is on and where parking, storage and mechanical equipment sit.

Living in Chinatown

Flood maps are only one part of choosing a neighborhood. To compare Chinatown with other San Francisco neighborhoods on more than flooding, see San Francisco on StrollPlace.

Buyer and renter FAQ

FAQ sources: FloodSmart (NFIP): Buy a Flood Insurance Policy; FEMA Fact Sheet: Think you don’t need flood insurance? Think again (Jan. 21, 2025); 44 CFR 61.11, Effective date and time of coverage.

Nearby neighborhoods

• Little Italy
• North Beach
• Bayside Village
• Opera Plaza
• Little Osaka
• Laguna Heights

How these numbers were made

Area: the census-based definition above, using U.S. Census Bureau TIGERweb, 2010 Census Block Groups and U.S. Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) domestic names. Flood zone shares: the area polygon intersected with FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL), Flood Hazard Zones and FIRM Panels, area computed in an equal-area projection; retrieved October 25, 2026. Claims: OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3 records for City and County of San Francisco (county code 06075), dataset as of September 8, 2026, retrieved October 25, 2026. Claims are counted for exactly the block groups that make up the area. Block groups used: 060750118001, 060750121001, 060750117002, 060750104004, 060750105001, 060750106002, 060750107003, 060750108003, 060750108002, 060750110002, 060750110003, 060750111002, 060750112002, 060750112003, 060750611001, 060750611002, 060750611003, 060750119012, 060750119021, 060750112001, 060750113001, 060750113002, 060750105002, 060750121002, 060750117001, 060750107004, 060750119011, 060750119022. Neighboring pages can share a block group, so their counts can overlap. Paid totals add building, contents and Increased Cost of Compliance payments and are not adjusted for inflation; a claim whose FEMA record shows a negative payment (an adjustment) counts as zero. Tree canopy: the mean of the 2025 NLCD Tree Canopy Cover values (0–100%, 30 m cells in an equal-area projection) for cells whose center lies inside the polygon. Fire hazard severity zones: the 2025 zone polygons (Local and State Responsibility Areas) intersected with the neighborhood polygon in an equal-area projection; the share of area in each class. See the methodology.

Sources

1. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), FEMA OpenFEMA Dataset: FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims - v3. Retrieved on October 25, 2026.
2. FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL), Flood Hazard Zones and FIRM Panels. Retrieved on October 25, 2026.
3. U.S. Census Bureau TIGERweb, 2010 Census Block Groups and U.S. Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) domestic names.
4. FEMA Glossary: Flood Zones.
5. FloodSmart (NFIP): Buy a Flood Insurance Policy.
6. FEMA Fact Sheet: Think you don’t need flood insurance? Think again (Jan. 21, 2025).
7. 44 CFR 61.11, Effective date and time of coverage.
8. OpenFEMA Terms and Conditions.
9. USDA Forest Service. 2026. USFS NLCD Percent Tree Canopy CONUS v2025-6 (2025 map). Salt Lake City, UT (30 m cells; read October 31, 2026).
10. National Weather Service: Heat Safety.
11. U.S. EPA: Using Trees and Vegetation to Reduce Heat Islands.
12. CAL FIRE Office of the State Fire Marshal, Fire Hazard Severity Zones (2025 maps; read October 31, 2026).
13. U.S. Census Bureau TIGERweb, Transportation (primary, secondary and local roads).

Data as of September 8, 2026 (FEMA claims) and October 25, 2026 (flood zones); hazard data computed October 31, 2026. Page last updated October 31, 2026.