Bergen County flood zones by town: the share of every municipality in the FEMA flood zone
The county publishes one table that answers a question people usually have to guess at: how much of my town is in the flood zone? Here it is in full, with what it does and does not tell you.
Bergen County's 2026 hazard mitigation plan lists, for all 70 municipalities, the acreage and percentage of land inside the FEMA one per cent annual chance flood zone. The range runs from 80.30 per cent of Little Ferry to none of Cliffside Park. This page reproduces those figures as printed, explains what the zones mean, and sets them beside the flood insurance record, which shows that a town with a small mapped share can still have a great many claims.
The short version
- The share of land in the FEMA one per cent annual chance flood zone ranges from 80.30 per cent in Little Ferry to 0.00 per cent in Cliffside Park.
- Eight Bergen municipalities are close to half or more flood zone: Little Ferry, Carlstadt, Moonachie, East Rutherford, Lyndhurst, Edgewater, Ridgefield and Teterboro.
- Lodi has under 8 per cent of its land in the flood zone but 1,107 recorded flood insurance losses, the second highest municipal figure in the county plan.
- FEMA reports that from 2014 to 2024, 29 per cent of flood insurance claims came from outside high-risk flood areas.
- The current effective FEMA flood maps for Bergen County are dated August 28, 2019. Only the FEMA Flood Map Service Center can tell you the zone for a specific address.
Where these figures come from
Every percentage on this page is taken from Table 4.6-1 of the Bergen County 2026 Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, titled Total Land Area in the Special Flood Hazard Area by Municipality. The plan was approved on May 11, 2026. The table gives its source as FEMA preliminary and effective Flood Insurance Rate Maps, 2024. For each municipality it prints the total land area, the acreage and percentage in the one per cent annual chance floodplain, and the additional acreage and percentage in the 0.2 per cent annual chance floodplain. The one per cent zone is what is commonly called the 100-year flood zone, and the 0.2 per cent zone the 500-year. FEMA defines the Special Flood Hazard Area as the area that will be inundated by the flood having a one per cent chance of being equalled or exceeded in any given year. Where this page gives a second figure in brackets, it is the plan's combined share in either zone. The figures are reproduced as printed and have not been recalculated.
The most exposed towns
Eight municipalities have close to half or more of their land in the one per cent flood zone. Little Ferry is highest at 80.30 per cent (83.90 per cent including the 0.2 per cent zone). Carlstadt follows at 77.28 (77.35) and Moonachie at 77.17 (80.78). Then come East Rutherford at 65.70 (66.98), Lyndhurst at 50.92 (52.04), Edgewater at 49.07 (52.73), Ridgefield at 48.84 (49.25) and Teterboro at 48.47 (62.24). Seven of those eight are Meadowlands District municipalities, and the county plan lists coastal surge on the Hackensack River as a flood source for six of them. Edgewater is the exception: its coastal flood source is the Hudson River, and the plan notes that the preliminary maps show wave-action zones there. In acreage terms the largest flood zones in the county are in Carlstadt, at 2,079 acres, East Rutherford at 1,701 and Lyndhurst at 1,618. These are the places where the question is less whether a property is near the flood zone than whether it is one of the minority outside it.
Towns between 15 and 35 per cent
A second group has between roughly a sixth and a third of its land in the one per cent zone. Rochelle Park: 31.99 per cent (45.64). Rutherford: 29.08 (32.03). Old Tappan: 26.51 (28.07). Northvale: 26.04 (27.55). Ridgefield Park: 24.03 (24.92). Harrington Park: 23.73 (25.17). Rockleigh: 23.72 (25.99). South Hackensack: 22.62 (24.33). North Arlington: 21.29 (23.39). Haworth: 21.14 (23.79). Norwood: 20.79 (22.22). Saddle Brook: 19.73 (28.83). Closter: 19.65 (21.84). Westwood: 18.49 (23.59). Hackensack: 17.96 (19.97). Wallington: 17.58 (31.46). Leonia: 16.22 (16.22). The group is a mix of flood sources. Rochelle Park and Saddle Brook are on the Saddle River, Wallington is on the Passaic and the Saddle River, and Hackensack and Ridgefield Park are on the tidal Hackensack. Note how much the bracketed figure adds in Rochelle Park, Saddle Brook and Wallington: in those towns a large area lies just outside the one per cent line.
The 33 towns this site covers
For the municipalities with their own pages on this site, the share of land in the one per cent flood zone, with the combined figure in brackets, is as follows. Bergenfield: 4.71 per cent (7.77). Bogota: 12.54 (13.07). Carlstadt: 77.28 (77.35). Cresskill: 9.60 (11.31). East Rutherford: 65.70 (66.98). Edgewater: 49.07 (52.73). Elmwood Park: 7.36 (21.98). Englewood: 10.80 (16.44). Fair Lawn: 9.17 (13.24). Fort Lee: 0.71 (0.78). Garfield: 7.70 (10.86). Hackensack: 17.96 (19.97). Hasbrouck Heights: 2.81 (2.89). Little Ferry: 80.30 (83.90). Lodi: 7.86 (9.94). Lyndhurst: 50.92 (52.04). Maywood: 3.17 (3.85). Moonachie: 77.17 (80.78). New Milford: 13.80 (16.85). North Arlington: 21.29 (23.39). Oradell: 9.70 (11.85). Paramus: 11.64 (16.22). Ridgefield: 48.84 (49.25). Ridgefield Park: 24.03 (24.92). Ridgewood: 10.77 (12.42). River Edge: 10.67 (13.46). Rochelle Park: 31.99 (45.64). Rutherford: 29.08 (32.03). Saddle Brook: 19.73 (28.83). South Hackensack: 22.62 (24.33). Teaneck: 9.80 (10.81). Tenafly: 1.43 (2.06). Wallington: 17.58 (31.46). Paramus deserves a note: its percentage is modest, but because the borough is large, its 782 acres of one per cent flood zone are more than in most towns with far higher shares. Elmwood Park shows the opposite pattern: only 7.36 per cent of the borough is in the one per cent zone, but the figure triples to 21.98 per cent once the 0.2 per cent zone is counted.
All 70 municipalities, A to Z
Share of land in the one per cent annual chance flood zone, as printed in Table 4.6-1. Allendale 11.49 per cent. Alpine 1.29. Bergenfield 4.71. Bogota 12.54. Carlstadt 77.28. Cliffside Park 0.00. Closter 19.65. Cresskill 9.60. Demarest 6.67. Dumont 4.60. East Rutherford 65.70. Edgewater 49.07. Elmwood Park 7.36. Emerson 9.87. Englewood 10.80. Englewood Cliffs 1.09. Fair Lawn 9.17. Fairview 5.01. Fort Lee 0.71. Franklin Lakes 10.45. Garfield 7.70. Glen Rock 8.21. Hackensack 17.96. Harrington Park 23.73. Hasbrouck Heights 2.81. Haworth 21.14. Hillsdale 11.25. Ho-Ho-Kus 8.66. Leonia 16.22. Little Ferry 80.30. Lodi 7.86. Lyndhurst 50.92. Mahwah 5.82. Maywood 3.17. Midland Park 4.32. Montvale 3.46. Moonachie 77.17. New Milford 13.80. North Arlington 21.29. Northvale 26.04. Norwood 20.79. Oakland 6.33. Old Tappan 26.51. Oradell 9.70. Palisades Park 7.43. Paramus 11.64. Park Ridge 5.81. Ramsey 8.12. Ridgefield 48.84. Ridgefield Park 24.03. Ridgewood 10.77. River Edge 10.67. River Vale 14.54. Rochelle Park 31.99. Rockleigh 23.72. Rutherford 29.08. Saddle Brook 19.73. Saddle River 6.14. South Hackensack 22.62. Teaneck 9.80. Tenafly 1.43. Teterboro 48.47. Upper Saddle River 6.34. Waldwick 6.16. Wallington 17.58. Washington Township 7.46. Westwood 18.49. Woodcliff Lake 8.54. Wood-Ridge 5.07. Wyckoff 2.68.
Why a small percentage does not mean small losses
The same county plan prints the number of flood insurance losses recorded in each municipality as of October 17, 2024, and the two tables do not move together. Lodi has only 7.86 per cent of its land in the flood zone, yet the plan lists 1,107 losses there, the second highest municipal figure after Little Ferry at 1,376. Rochelle Park has 899, New Milford 797, Wallington 725, Westwood 685 and Oakland 683. In the repetitive loss table, Rochelle Park has 146 repetitive or severe repetitive loss properties and Lodi 133, both more than Little Ferry at 109. At the other end, towns with almost no mapped flood zone still have claims: Fort Lee, at 0.71 per cent, has 22 recorded losses, and Tenafly, at 1.43 per cent, has 59. FEMA's FloodSmart site reports that from 2014 to 2024 nearly one third of flood insurance claims, 29 per cent, came from outside high-risk flood areas. One caution: the county totals printed beneath the plan's insurance tables do not match the sum of the rows, so this page quotes rows as printed and not the totals.
What the map does not tell you
A town-wide percentage is a planning figure. It cannot tell you whether your own address is in a flood zone, and a property on high ground in Little Ferry is in a different position from one beside the river in Lodi. For that, the authority is the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, where the maps are searchable by address. FEMA's community status report shows the current effective flood maps for every Bergen County municipality dated August 28, 2019. The map also has limits that the state itself points out. New Jersey's environmental department says of its Flood Indicator Tool that FEMA's flood maps do not tell the whole story, because they are based on historical data and do not account for sea-level rise. The state's Inland Flood Protection Rule, in effect since July 17, 2023, raised the design flood elevation used for new construction on non-tidal waters by two feet. A flood map is a line drawn from past floods. Water does not stop at it.
What to do with this
If your town is near the top of the list, the useful questions are about your own building: its elevation, where the utilities are, and what flood cover you hold. If your town is near the bottom, the insurance record above is the reason not to dismiss the subject. Three facts from FEMA are worth knowing whatever the percentage. The Special Flood Hazard Area is where the mandatory purchase of flood insurance applies, and FEMA states that homes in high-risk flood areas with mortgages from government-backed lenders are required to carry it. Flood is a separate policy from homeowners insurance. And a new flood policy normally takes effect 30 days after purchase, so it cannot be bought once a storm is in the forecast. For the rivers behind these numbers, the guides linked below cover the Meadowlands, the Saddle River, the Hackensack and the Passaic in turn.
Common questions
Which Bergen County town has the most land in a flood zone?
Little Ferry, with 80.30 per cent of its land in the FEMA one per cent annual chance flood zone according to the county's 2026 hazard mitigation plan. Carlstadt is next at 77.28 per cent and Moonachie at 77.17 per cent. By acreage the largest flood zone is in Carlstadt, at about 2,079 acres.
What does the one per cent annual chance flood zone mean?
FEMA defines the Special Flood Hazard Area as the area that will be inundated by the flood having a one per cent chance of being equalled or exceeded in any given year. It is often called the 100-year flood zone, which is misleading: the chance is the same every year, and floods of that size can occur in consecutive years.
How do I find out if my own address is in a flood zone?
Search the address at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, which holds the official Flood Insurance Rate Maps. New Jersey's Flood Indicator Tool shows the same FEMA data by parcel. The town percentages on this page describe the municipality as a whole and cannot tell you the zone of an individual property.
If my town has a low percentage, do I still need to think about flooding?
The records suggest yes. Fort Lee has under one per cent of its land in the flood zone and 22 recorded flood insurance losses; Tenafly has 1.43 per cent and 59. FEMA reports that 29 per cent of flood insurance claims from 2014 to 2024 came from outside high-risk flood areas.
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