$33T worth of US homes at 'major' risk of flood, wind or fire

A new analysis has found that trillions of dollars’ worth of U.S. homes are at major risk of damage from fire, flood or extreme wind.

Zillow analyzed climate risk data available on for-sale homes listed on their website. The risk data is powered by data from First Street, which conducts climate risk modeling. 

Homes with wind, fire or flood risk total more than $33T

By the numbers:

The study found that U.S. homes with major wind risk were worth at least $17 trillion, homes with major risk of fire were valued at $9.1 trillion and homes with major flood risk were valued at $7 trillion, equaling more than $33 trillion. The value of homes with major fire risk alone were  worth almost a third of the U.S. GDP. 

According to the data, 11 metro areas had at least $100 billion of residential real estate with major risk of fire, and six of those were in California. 

The Los Angeles metro had the highest total value of homes at major fire risk, at $831 billion. Phoenix and Dallas had significantly more homes at risk, but the average value of at-risk homes in Los Angeles was the highest of any major metro, pushing the total value higher. 

For homes with major flood risk, the New York City metro area ($593 billion) edged out Miami ($580 billion) with the highest total value of homes at risk.

The Palisades Fire burns near homes amid a powerful windstorm on January 7, 2025 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

In addition, the total value of homes at major risk of extreme wind was above $1 trillion in the New York City ($3 trillion) and Boston ($1 trillion) metro areas. Houston, Philadelphia and Dallas had the next-highest valued real estate at major wind risk.

Total value of homes with major fire, flood, wind risk

How climate risk could impact household wealth

Why you should care:

Another measure of the risk each market faces is the total value of homes with major climate risk compared to local incomes.

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Certain major metros have higher income burdens. When it came to fire risk and flood risk, Los Angeles faced the highest income burden. In the New York City metro, wind posed the highest risk of the three risks analyzed. 

Dig deeper:

 Zillow noted that, today, more new listings are at major climate risk than five years ago, and homes with a high fire or flood score face more challenges in the market, including a lower likelihood of selling, and a higher likelihood of selling for less than their original list price if they do sell. 

Zillow has also found that a clear majority of people in each region of the United States considered at least one climate risk when shopping for a home.

The backstory:

This report follows major weather events that have impacted the U.S. over the past few months. 

Earlier this year, Southern California experienced devastating wildfires. Estimates of the total property damage from January 2025’s wildfires were between $28 billion and $53.8 billion.