The households most exposed to hail are the least able to pay the deductible
Americans in the lowest hail-risk neighbourhoods have a median household income roughly $14,000 higher than those in the highest-risk ones. Storm exposure and financial cushion run in opposite directions.
The numbers.
average median household income in low-hail-risk tracts
in high-risk tracts (score 75–90)
people live in tracts above a moderate hail risk threshold
owner-occupancy in Cherokee County, SC — high exposure, $51,418 median income
What the data shows.
A hail claim costs a homeowner their deductible whether or not they can afford it, and wind-and-hail deductibles are frequently written as a percentage of the insured value rather than a flat sum. On a $250,000 home a 2% wind-and-hail deductible is $5,000 before the insurer pays anything.
Sorting all 83,200 tracts by hail risk shows income moving in the opposite direction to exposure. Tracts in the lowest risk band have an average median household income of $93,675. Every higher-risk band sits well below that.
The relationship is not a clean gradient — the very highest band recovers somewhat, pulled up by affluent suburbs in Colorado and north Texas — but the gap between the low-risk band and everything above it is large and consistent.
The counties where this bites hardest combine three things: high hail exposure, low median income, and high owner-occupancy, meaning the people who carry the repair bill are the residents rather than landlords. Cherokee County, South Carolina, sits at a hail risk score of 80.1 with a median household income of $51,418 and 75.3% owner-occupancy.
| Hail risk band | Tracts | Population | Avg median income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very high (90+) | 8,371 | 35,660,361 | $83,170 |
| High (75-90) | 12,544 | 50,680,058 | $77,403 |
| Moderate (50-75) | 20,836 | 82,848,943 | $78,043 |
| Low (<50) | 40,292 | 156,840,695 | $93,675 |
| County | Hail risk | Median income | Owner-occupied | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cherokee, SC | 80.1 | $51,418 | 75.3% | 56,186 |
| Pulaski, KY | 90.3 | $52,727 | 73.6% | 64,950 |
| Cameron, TX | 81.2 | $53,092 | 65.9% | 418,744 |
| Delaware, IN | 90.9 | $54,936 | 62.3% | 111,870 |
| Grant, IN | 89.8 | $55,098 | 71.8% | 66,634 |
| Jones, MS | 85.3 | $56,008 | 76.9% | 67,155 |
| Florence, SC | 83.7 | $56,165 | 63.7% | 136,859 |
| Hidalgo, TX | 85.4 | $56,333 | 68.4% | 866,993 |
| Vermilion, IL | 87.1 | $56,393 | 68.8% | 74,163 |
| Laurel, KY | 88.4 | $56,846 | 71.7% | 62,486 |
| Garland, AR | 85.9 | $57,141 | 67.9% | 100,056 |
| Jefferson, OH | 83.3 | $58,292 | 69.4% | 65,187 |
| Greenwood, SC | 82.7 | $58,681 | 69.6% | 69,326 |
| El Paso, TX | 82.8 | $58,849 | 61.8% | 864,449 |
| Columbiana, OH | 87.5 | $58,870 | 71.5% | 101,872 |
| Pope, AR | 85.9 | $58,949 | 68.5% | 63,305 |
| Cherokee, TX | 89.1 | $59,282 | 74.0% | 50,317 |
| McCracken, KY | 92.2 | $60,114 | 66.1% | 67,799 |
| Spalding, GA | 88.0 | $60,289 | 60.8% | 67,247 |
| Angelina, TX | 81.2 | $60,862 | 65.1% | 86,270 |
How this was calculated.
FEMA National Risk Index hail scores were joined to Census ACS income and tenure data on tract FIPS. Tracts were grouped into four risk bands and the median household income averaged within each band, unweighted by population.
The county table aggregates tracts to counties and filters to those above 50,000 residents with an average hail risk score above 80, an average median household income below $65,000 and owner-occupancy above 60%.
What this does not show.
This is a geographic correlation, not a causal claim. Hail risk is highest across the interior United States, and interior states have lower median incomes than the coastal metros for reasons entirely unrelated to weather. The finding is that the exposed population skews lower-income — not that hail exposure reduces income.
Band averages are unweighted across tracts, so a band's figure is the average of its tracts rather than of its residents.
We hold no data on actual insurance deductibles, premiums or claim outcomes. The deductible figures in the opening paragraph are illustrative of common policy structures, not measured from any book of business.
Income and tenure are ACS survey estimates carrying their own margins of error.
Using this study.
Free to cite with attribution. Underlying county and tract breakdowns are available on request, including cuts for a specific market.
Download the full dataset.
The table above is truncated. This is the complete county-level set behind the study — 3,128 rows, covering 5 measures. Released under CC BY 4.0: use it anywhere, including commercially, with attribution.
- · FEMA hail risk score
- · Median household income
- · Median home value
- · Owner-occupied housing percentage
- · Population
Curious what this means for your address?
The studies above are national. This is your specific roof — size, pitch, and the storm history recorded at your address. Free, about six seconds.
Other studies.
Where America's oldest housing meets the worst hail
A county-level look at where the oldest housing stock coincides with the highest modelled hail risk, across all 83,200 US census tracts with both measures.
READ →FEMA's hail risk score and actual hail events agree less than you would expect
Comparing FEMA National Risk Index hail scores against 161,403 NOAA storm events from 2021 to 2026, and identifying counties rated low-risk that report hail repeatedly.
READ →DATA REFRESHED 2026-08-01