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Coastal Population Trends
As coastal populations continue to grow the potential effects of future mega-catastrophe on these areas represent significant challenges not only for insurance carriers but also for the local economies and the safety and well being of citizens.

A study published in 2004 by the NOAA, based on U.S. Census data, found that in 2003, 53 percent of the nation's population -- 153 million people -- lived in coastal counties (including those that abut the Great Lakes), which in total make up 17 percent of the country's land mass. For the purposes of the study, a coastal county must be part of a coastal watershed but it does not have to have a shoreline. These ratios have remained steady since 1970 but the number of people has steadily increased. Twenty-three of the 25 most densely populated areas are coastal. Put another way, in 1960 an average of 187 people were living on each square mile of the U.S. coast, excluding Alaska.

In 1994, that figure was 274 per square mile and it is expected to reach 327 people by 2015. Between 1980 and 2003, the population of coastal counties grew by 33 million people, or 28 percent. Florida grew 75 percent, Texas 52 percent and Virginia 48 percent. More growth is expected.

Between 2003 and 2008, the study notes, coastal population in the Southeast region, the area most vulnerable to windstorms, is expected to grow by 1.1 million, or 8 percent, with the highest growth expected in the southernmost part of Florida. Coastal counties in the Carolinas and Georgia are also expected to see considerable population increases. Large increases are forecast for the Houston, Texas area and Florida's central Gulf Coast.*

For more information on population trends and catastrophes, click here.

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