What Baytown's Class 5 Flood Rating Means for Your Insurance Bill

FEMA lists Baytown as a Class 5 community in its Community Rating System, or CRS. That class takes 25% off the flood-insurance premium for policies inside Special Flood Hazard Areas, and 10% off for policies outside them. The discount is real, but it only helps if it shows up on your bill.

The first number to know depends on where your house sits. Inside a Special Flood Hazard Area, a Class 5 city gets a 25% discount. Outside one, it gets 10%. So two neighbors in the same city can see two different discounts, because the flood zone under each address decides which one applies. The CRS discount applies to flood policies written through the National Flood Insurance Program, so ask your agent if yours is one.

The class took effect on April 1, 2023, and Baytown has been in the program since Oct. 1, 1991. The numbers below come from FEMA's list for Texas and from the city's own report, and both are a few years old. FEMA re-checks classes on a regular cycle, so ask your agent for the class on your current bill.

The short version

• FEMA lists Baytown as CRS Class 5. The current class took effect April 1, 2023.
• Policies in Special Flood Hazard Areas get a 25% discount. Policies outside get 10%.
• Baytown joined the program on Oct. 1, 1991.
• The city confirmed "Class 5" in its own flood progress report in October 2023.
• The city lies in two counties: Harris and Chambers.

What the Community Rating System is

The CRS is a FEMA program tied to flood insurance. It rewards cities that do more than the minimum to cut flood risk. The class number, from 1 to 10 with 1 being best, sets the discount on policies in that city.

In FEMA's file for Texas, Baytown appears as a regular participant, listed with Chambers County and Harris County. The class column reads 5 and the discount column reads 25%, which is the figure for Special Flood Hazard Areas.

The discount, in plain terms

FEMA calls the high-risk zones Special Flood Hazard Areas. Policies inside them get 25% off in a Class 5 city. Policies outside get 10%.

The discount does not tell you what your premium is. It is a reduction applied to the premium for your policy. As an illustration only, a $2,000 annual premium would drop by $500 at 25%, or by $200 at 10%. Your real numbers will differ.

What the city says

Baytown's own flood mitigation progress report, dated Oct. 2, 2023, says "the City is currently at a Class 5." The report covers Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023. It also refers to floodplain mitigation work identified in the Harris County All Hazard Mitigation Plan, the county's published plan for reducing hazard losses.

FEMA's row for Baytown lists more dates than the class. It shows an initial flood map date of Feb. 26, 1970 and a current effective map date of Jan. 19, 2018. The current class took effect later, on April 1, 2023. FEMA may have issued newer maps since, so check the current map for your address.

Those are three different clocks: when Baytown joined the program, when its flood maps were last made effective, and when its class last changed. A policy can feel the effect of each.

• 1970: the initial flood map date in FEMA's file.
• 1991: Baytown enters the program.
• 2017: Hurricane Harvey floods homes across greater Houston.
• 2018: the current effective map date in FEMA's file.
• 2023: the Class 5 rating takes effect, and the city's progress report confirms it.

Why flood rules matter here

Flooding is part of this area's story. Hurricane Harvey came ashore near Rockport on Aug. 25, 2017, then stalled over southeast Texas and dumped record rain that flooded homes across greater Houston.

It is also a story of land. Subsidence from oil, gas and groundwater withdrawal hit Goose Creek early, and the sinking ground later swamped the Brownwood neighborhood, especially after Hurricane Carla in 1961. Subsidence and storm flooding lowered the ground there an estimated 10 to 15 feet between the 1970s and 1980s. After Hurricane Alicia, FEMA and the city eventually bought out many flooded properties. The Brownwood Marsh Restoration Project, launched in late 1994, turned the flooded, abandoned subdivision into tidal marshes, channels and freshwater ponds. The land was dedicated as a nature preserve in 1995, and it is now the Baytown Nature Center. A 2002 homecoming there drew more than 325 former residents.

Drainage is still a live question. In the November 2025 bond election, Proposition C, a $14,025,500 drainage item, was not approved. Voters approved two of six propositions: Prop B for mobility and Prop D for Fire Station 4.

How to check your own policy

1. Find your flood zone. Look up your address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (https://msc.fema.gov), or ask the city's floodplain staff through the city's Floodplain Protection page. 2. Call your insurance agent. Ask whether your home is in a Special Flood Hazard Area and which discount your policy gets. Bring your policy declarations page. 3. Ask for the discount to be shown as a line on your bill. 4. If you have an elevation certificate for your home, give it to your agent. It can affect your premium.

What this means for you

Ask your insurance agent three things. Is my policy inside a Special Flood Hazard Area? Is the Class 5 discount on my bill? What is my premium before and after the discount? Do not assume one discount fits every policy: check the property location, the flood zone and the city's current CRS class.

Sources

• FEMA: Community Information System, Texas file (https://www.fema.gov/cis/TX.csv)
• FEMA: Community Rating System (https://fema.gov/flood-insurance/rules-legislation/community-rating-system)
• FEMA: Flood Map Service Center (https://msc.fema.gov)
• City of Baytown: Floodplain Protection (https://www.baytown.org/1321/Floodplain-Protection)
• City of Baytown: Class 5 Rating news item (https://www.baytown.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=105&ARC=206)
• City of Baytown: Flood Mitigation CRS Progress Report, October 2, 2023
• City of Baytown: 2025 Bond Projects (https://www.baytown.org/1447/2025-Bond-Projects)
• National Weather Service: Hurricane Harvey (https://www.weather.gov/crp/hurricane_harvey)
• Houston History Magazine: Brownwood (https://houstonhistorymagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Brownwood.pdf)
• City of Baytown: About Baytown (https://baytown.org/907/About)
• Texas State Historical Association: Baytown (https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/baytown-tx)
• City of Baytown: Baytown Nature Center (https://www.baytown.org/708/Baytown-Nature-Center)