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Flood history / Wisconsin / ZIP 53538

ZIP 53538
Jefferson County, WI

Paid claims3731978–2026
Total paid$6.7M$18K average
Heaviest year2008133 claims
Outside high-risk zone5%of claims with a rated zone

Property owners in ZIP 53538 have been paid $6.7M on 373 National Flood Insurance Program claims between 1978 and 2026 — an average of $18K a claim, across 22 separate years in which someone here filed and was paid.

The heaviest year

2008 is the heaviest year on file: 133 paid claims, 35.7% of the ZIP's total. That one year accounts for more than a quarter of the ZIP's entire record. The largest named event in the record is Storm, with 31 claims.

5 of those claims — 1.3% — were filed since 2017. The bulk of this ZIP's record is older than that.

Named eventPaid claimsShare of record
Storm318.3%
2026-04-Flooding10.3%

Where the claims sat on the map

Of the 362 claims here that record a rated flood zone, 18 — 5.0% — were on properties rated outside the mapped high-risk area, in a B, C or X zone. Claims here concentrate inside the mapped high-risk area, which is what the maps intend. Flood insurance is not required outside the high-risk zone, and most properties there do not carry it — so these counts come from the minority who did.

The water near this ZIP

The closest gauges publishing official flood thresholds are Rock River at Fort Atkinson (2.0 mi), Rock River at Lake Koshkonong (5.0 mi) and Rock River at Inflow Lake Koshkonong (5.0 mi). A gauge describes one point on one river — it will not see street drainage, sewer backup, storm surge or flash flooding.

Read current gauge conditions for 53538 →

What this does not say

These are paid National Flood Insurance Program claims, nothing more. They count insured properties whose owners filed and were paid, so they are a floor on how often this ZIP has flooded — never a measure of how likely it is to flood next. Uninsured flooding leaves no trace here at all.

The figures are aggregates published by FEMA. No individual claim, address or policyholder appears on this page or in the data behind it. Nothing here is a forecast, a warning, or advice about insurance.

Other Wisconsin ZIP codes on file

  • 53218 Milwaukee County · 886 claims
  • 53209 Milwaukee County · 555 claims
  • 54935 Fond du Lac County · 443 claims
  • 53217 Milwaukee County · 260 claims
  • 53092 Ozaukee County · 235 claims
  • 53216 Milwaukee County · 190 claims
  • 53168 Kenosha County · 159 claims
  • 54603 La Crosse County · 143 claims

All Wisconsin ZIP codes →