• Of Black-owned homes, 60% face major wind risk and 81% face extreme heat.
• Of Hispanic-owned homes, 25% face major wildfire risk, and 77% face extreme heat.
• 32% of homes owned by Asian American households face major air-quality risk.
• In contrast, 32% of white-owned homes face major wind risk, 18% face major fire risk, 52% face major heat risk, and 11% face major air-quality risk.

As natural disasters are becoming more frequent and severe, not all U.S. homeowners face equal exposure to the risks. A new Zillow analysis reveals that Black and Hispanic homeowners are disproportionately vulnerable to major climate risks like wildfire, wind, and extreme heat. 

While white homeowners own the most U.S. homes and therefore also own the most homes at major climate risk — a risk score of 5 or higher, according to First Street data — there are disparities when looking at the proportion of homes at climate risk across different racial groups. Hispanic homeowners, for example, are more likely to own homes at high risk of wildfire. Black homeowners are more likely to face major risk of extreme wind. 

The disproportionate burden of climate risk on minority homeowners has the potential to exacerbate financial inequality between racial groups. Climate risk is increasing the cost of homeownership, with rising insurance and energy costs needed to heat and cool homes, coupled with the potential costs of repairs and rebuilding after climate-related natural disasters. Zillow research has also shown that homes at greater climate risk are more likely to face slower sales and bigger discounts. These impacts have the potential to widen the racial wealth gap and further set back minority groups that historically have been financially disadvantaged.

How Physical Climate Risk Impacts Racial Groups Differently

Nationally, 25% of homes owned by Hispanic households are at major risk of wildfire. That’s significantly higher than the 18% of white-owned homes facing the same level of risk.

Black homeowners face a disproportionate risk of wind damage from hurricanes, tornadoes or other severe storms. Nationally, 60% of Black-owned homes face major wind risk, compared to just 32% of white-owned homes.

At the national level, flood risk is fairly balanced across racial groups. Homes at major risk of flooding make up 12% to 14% of homes owned by white, Black, Hispanic, and Asian American households. 

However, local statistics often tell a different story. In the New Orleans metro area, 95% of Asian-American homeowners face major flood risk, as do 92% of Black homeowners and 86% of Hispanic homeowners. Only 76% of white homeowners in New Orleans face the same risk. 

The disparities in flood risk locally could be due to historical discrimination and patterns of resource allocation: According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), minorities and other vulnerable communities face a higher risk of flooding because they are more likely to live in lower-lying, risk-prone areas that have received less investments and therefore have deteriorating infrastructure. 

The opposite is often true in Florida, where a greater share of white homeowners face major flood risk in large markets near the coast: Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville. This may be explained by the desirability — and cost — of waterfront properties in these markets. The racial wealth gap means these homes are more often within the budgets of white home buyers than Black or Hispanic buyers. 

How Climate Risk Affects Livability of Different Racial Groups

In addition to physical risks, climate risk also affects the livability of homes due to extreme heat and poor air quality. These conditions disproportionately affect minority groups: 81% of Black-owned homes and 77% of Hispanic-owned homes face major heat risk, compared to 52% of white-owned homes. 

The impacts of major heat risk are greater for lower-income households and communities that are less likely to afford the cost of energy necessary to cool their homes. The EPA has found that Black people are 40% more likely than other racial groups to live in areas with the highest projected increases in mortality rates due to extreme temperatures. The same EPA study found that Hispanic and Latino people are 43% more likely to live in areas with the highest projected labor hour losses due to higher temperatures.

Asian American households have a disproportionate exposure to poor air quality: 32% of homes owned by Asian American households have major air-quality risk — nearly three times the rate for white-owned homes (11%).

The Connection Between Climate Risk and Financial Stress

The growing impact of climate risks is adding to the housing affordability crisis by driving up costs, reducing housing availability, and making it harder to get insurance. This strains budgets — both for current homeowners and would-be first-time buyers — and limits the ability for many people to move, adding pressure on the housing market. 

As this research demonstrates, climate risk is having a disproportionate impact on historically marginalized racial groups, with the potential to exacerbate racial income and wealth gaps. 

Not only do minority groups face greater climate risk, they are also less likely to have homeowners insurance that can help them recover in the event of a disaster. According to the Consumer Federation of America, 1 in 13 American homeowners are uninsured, and the Americans most likely to lack insurance are people of color: 22% of Native American homeowners, 14% of Hispanic homeowners, and 11% of Black homeowners lack insurance. By contrast, only 6% of white homeowners and 5% of Asian American and Pacific Islander homeowners lack insurance. 

For homeowners who do have insurance, rising premiums increase the probability of mortgage delinquency. Given existing financial disparities, the rising cost of insurance is likely to have a greater financial impact on Black and Hispanic communities. According to the Urban Institute, communities of color experienced a 31-point decline in credit scores after being impacted by the disaster, compared to 4-point decline in majority white communities. 

The other impact that can affect owners of homes facing climate risk is being less likely to realize the full potential of their home equity when they sell. A 2025 Zillow analysis found that homes with extreme risk of flood and fire are less likely to sell, or even go pending, and those that do sell are more likely to sell for less than the original list price. This makes racial groups that face higher climate risk more vulnerable to loss of wealth from home equity. 

Methodology

This analysis is based on climate risk data available on for-sale homes listed on Zillow. The risk data is powered from First Street, a trusted leader in climate risk modeling. According to First Street, a score of 1 is considered minimal, 2 is minor, 3–4 is moderate, 5–6 is major, 7–8 is severe, and 9–10 is extreme.

For each climate risk (flood, wildfire, extreme wind, air quality, and extreme heat) we count the single-family homes and condos with a risk score of 5 or higher, to see how many homes are exposed to major climate risks within each ZIP code. 

From the American Community Survey (ACS), we obtain the total number of housing units by ZIP code, broken down by race and homeowner/renter status. We multiply the share of housing by a particular race and ownership status to the count of homes to get the implied count of homes at risk by demographic. The simplifying assumption is that the distribution of climate risk is spread equally across the demographics at the ZIP code level, one of the smallest geographies possible. Then, we aggregate the ZIP codes up to the metropolitan area and national levels.  

The share of homes at risk for a particular demographic is the estimated count of homes at risk owned by that demographic, divided by the estimated total count of homes owned by that demographic, for a particular metropolitan area.