How much does FEMA spend on disaster response?
10%
88%
2%
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) coordinates the federal response to disasters and facilitates emergency funding.
In the last five years, FEMA has approved $158.9 billion in disaster funding. Of that, 88.1% went to public assistance and the remaining 11.9% was split between individual and housing assistance (10.0%) and hazard mitigation (1.9%). Historically, public assistance gets the most funding and has the biggest variation in amounts allocated.
The majority of disaster response funding goes to public assistance.
FEMA disaster response funding, by disaster type and aid type, 2020–2024
Where does FEMA disaster response funding go?
FEMA disaster funding has three buckets:
- Individuals and households: Financial assistance and aid services to eligible disaster survivors to pay for basic housing and meet other essential needs not covered by insurance.
- Public assistance: Supplemental grants to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments — plus certain nonprofits — to help with debris removal, emergency protective measures, and restoring public infrastructure.
- Hazard mitigation: Grants to state, local, and tribal governments to mitigate future disaster losses by funding risk-reducing projects and plans.
The kind of funding that a disaster is eligible for depends on the kind of disaster declared: major disaster or emergency. All three kinds of funding are available for major disasters, while emergencies aren’t eligible for hazard mitigation.
What is a major disaster?
What is a major disaster?
A major disaster is typically declared for severe environmental events — hurricanes, tornadoes, snowstorms, floods, earthquakes, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, landslides, mudslides, droughts, explosions — that cause widespread damage and require long-term recovery efforts.
What is an emergency declaration?
What is an emergency declaration?
An emergency declaration is issued when the president determines federal assistance is needed to protect lives, property, or public health and safety. Aid is capped at $5 million and is for urgent crises like public health emergencies (e.g., COVID-19), terrorist attacks, power outages, or events related to natural disasters.
Disaster declarations are made at the president’s discretion and are not a promise of federal funds – it makes an area eligible for funds if, during the review, FEMA determines that the affected state doesn’t have the necessary funds to support disaster recovery on its own. Sometimes disasters are declared but not given federal funds because FEMA concludes that they’re not needed. FEMA aid also varies greatly by year because of the unpredictable nature of disasters.
The timeline for funding approval varies. After a president declares a disaster, there is a review process. This creates a gap between the declaration date and an approved dollar amount.
Individual and housing assistance, and hazard mitigation funding are typically made available first, within a month or two of the declaration. Public assistance funding is finalized on a longer timeline, closer to ~12 months after the declaration.
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In the past five years of disaster funding, $113.6 billion — 71.5% of all FEMA aid — went to individual and housing assistance, public assistance, and hazard mitigation related to COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic, declared in 2020, was the costliest disaster in the US since FEMA aid tracking began in 1980.
Public assistance is the largest share of FEMA aid.
Obligated aid by category, 1998–2025
What are the costliest disasters?
Since 1998, the costliest disasters have been: The COVID-19 pandemic (declared in 2020, $113.6 billion), Hurricane Maria (2017, $74.8 billion), Hurricane Katrina (2005, $41.6 billion), and Hurricane Sandy (2012, $28.0 billion).
Hurricanes are responsible for five of the nation’s ten costliest recorded disasters.
Four disasters have received over $20 billion each in disaster aid.
Top 50 costliest disasters
What is each state’s costliest disaster?
In 34 states and Washington, DC, the costliest disaster was COVID-19, declared in 2020.
Hurricanes were the most expensive disasters in six states: Hurricane Katrina (2005) in Louisiana and Mississippi, Hurricane Sandy (2012) in New York and New Jersey, Hurricane Ivan (2004) in Alabama, and Hurricane Helene (2024) in Georgia.
Floods were the costliest disasters in five states, severe storms in two, and ice storms in two.
Hawaii was the only state where a fire was the costliest disaster, in 2023.
COVID-19 is the costliest disaster in 34 states and in DC.
Disaster aid by each state’s costliest disaster, from 1980 - present
Where does FEMA disaster response funding come from?
FEMA’s disaster response relief is funded through the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), which is authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. The DRF is the primary source of money FEMA uses to provide aid after a federally declared disaster.
Other kinds of FEMA funding, like flood mitigation, are considered pre-disaster and are handled separately. The National Flood Insurance Program, run through the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA), is also a separate branch of FEMA and isn’t considered disaster funding at all.
Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
