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Home Insurance in Waco, TX
Storm reports, flood records and FEMA hazard ratings for McLennan County, with plain-English notes on how lightning and tornadoes risks show up in a Waco policy.
$5,390/yr
About $449/mo · ~$300k-$400k dwelling class
$2,986/yr
About $249/mo after modeled shopping discount
About 44.6% below local market estimate
Waco hazard snapshot
In FEMA’s National Risk Index, McLennan County carries an overall rating of relatively moderate. Its leading hazards, by rating, are lightning (very high), tornadoes (relatively high) and cold waves (relatively high).
Lightning is rated very high in McLennan County. Fire from a strike is a covered peril; ask how your policy treats power-surge damage to appliances and electronics.
Tornadoes rate relatively high in McLennan County, so an up-to-date home inventory and enough debris-removal coverage are worth confirming.
Cold waves are rated relatively high in McLennan County; frozen pipes are the main home insurance concern.
Hail is rated relatively moderate in McLennan County. Ask whether your roof is covered at replacement cost or actual cash value, and whether a Class 4 impact-resistant roof earns a credit.
Ten years of storm reports in McLennan County
Hail turned up 114 times in McLennan County in NOAA’s database between 2016 and 2025. Of these, 84 reached at least one inch in diameter. The biggest stones, 4.5 inches across, fell on April 26, 2023. Tornado records for McLennan County show 10 touchdowns from 2016 through 2025, topped by an EF2 on April 26, 2024.
NOAA also lists 63 thunderstorm wind events, the strongest estimated near 81 mph. The same records include 26 flash flood events.
FEMA has issued 5 natural-hazard major disaster declarations covering McLennan County since 2000. The latest declarations were Severe Winter Storms (2021), Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds and Flooding (2015) and Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding (2007).
Who covers wind in Waco?
McLennan County is outside TWIA’s designated catastrophe area, so wind and hail are normally covered by the homeowners policy itself, often with a separate percentage deductible.
Flood insurance in Waco
Waco participates in the National Flood Insurance Program, so NFIP policies are available to residents. Its flood map now in force took effect in December 2019. Only about 1 in 101 homes in McLennan County carries an NFIP policy (770 residential policies). Since 2016, 118 NFIP flood claims have come from McLennan County. Standard homeowners policies exclude flood, and a new NFIP policy generally has a 30-day waiting period.
The FEMA Flood Map Service Center shows the flood zone for any address.
How Waco homes are built and valued
Half of the housing in Waco dates from 1979 or earlier, per Census estimates. Homes built before 1980 make up about 51% of the total; those built since 2000 account for 29%. Homeowners in Waco report a median value of $221,700. McLennan County as a whole is in the same range, at $243,600. Land value is part of a sale price but not of a rebuild, so the right Coverage A figure can be well above or below market value.
Local records and contacts for Waco
Waco is in McLennan County. McLennan County forms part of the urban core of the Waco metro. Waco lies south of Dallas, around 89 miles away in a straight line.
Square footage and build year on file with the McLennan appraisal district (www.mclennancad.org) feed straight into replacement-cost estimates, so check them for errors. Its office is at 315 S. 26th St. Waco, TX 76710-7400. The NWS Fort Worth/Dallas, TX office handles forecasts and storm warnings for Waco. Radar coverage comes from the KGRK site.
FAQ: Waco storm and flood coverage
How common are hailstorms in McLennan County?
From 2016 through 2025, NOAA logged 114 hail reports in McLennan County, 84 of them with stones an inch or larger. FEMA’s National Risk Index rates the county’s hail risk relatively moderate. Roof age, roof material and the wind and hail deductible drive most of the price difference between quotes.
Does TWIA cover homes in Waco?
No. TWIA only writes in the 14 first-tier coastal counties and part of Harris County, and McLennan County is not among them. Your homeowners carrier covers wind and hail.
Is homeowners coverage mandatory for Waco homeowners?
No Texas law requires it, but mortgage lenders almost always do, and they can buy costly force-placed coverage if your policy lapses.
How does flood coverage work for a Waco home?
A standard homeowners policy will not pay for flood damage, so you need a stand-alone flood policy. NFIP coverage is available because Waco is a participating community, and its current flood map took effect in December 2019. Only about 1 in 101 McLennan County homes carries NFIP coverage. Buy early, because NFIP coverage generally starts 30 days after purchase.
Request a Waco homeowners quote
Texas Insurance Resources shops multiple carriers for you. Call 800-875-4711 or start online.
Sources and methodology
Figures were retrieved in October 2026 and are estimates with margins of error. The two price cards are modeled estimates from Texas Insurance Resources, not quotes.
- FEMA Community Status Book
- Comptroller CAD listing, McLennan County
- National Risk Index (FEMA), McLennan County
- FEMA declared disasters, McLennan County
- TWIA coverage area
- Texas Comptroller regions
- Storm Events Database (NOAA), McLennan County
- OMB metro and micro areas
- Census Gazetteer coordinates
- NWS Fort Worth/Dallas, TX
- Comparison figures: McLennan County value, McLennan County build year
- OpenFEMA flood insurance data, McLennan County
- Census ACS 2020–2024, Waco city: home value, tenure, median year built, population, year built, structure type