This Is How Much Sea-Level Rise in These Cities Will Cost Taxpayers
The water is rising. Tidal flooding in coastal communities is getting worse -- even on sunny days with no rain. In the past two decades, tidal flooding has increased by 190% in the southeastern U.S. and 140% in the Northeast, according to a recent report by NOAA.
The U.S. is facing more than $400 billion in costs in the next few years to defend coastal communities from this inevitable sea-level rise -- some 50,000 miles of seawalls and other coastal barriers in 22 states, according to a study by the Center for Climate Integrity.
Who's going to pay for all that?
Currently, taxpayers and property owners in local communities are the ones on the hook for 100% of climate adaptation costs, according to the report "High Tide Tax, the Price to Protect Coastal Communities from Rising Seas," by the Center for Climate Integrity, which seeks to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for some of the escalating costs of adapting to climate change.
If local communities must pay, that means they will have to raise taxes and make cuts to existing public services such as schools, emergency services, and hospitals. The other option is flooded roads, businesses, and homes, damage to infrastructure and ultimately abandonment of affected properties and communities, resulting in sinking property values and displaced residents, all in the next 20 years, according to the CCI report, which breaks down the costs of seawalls for the states, counties and cities that will be hit the hardest.
In the list of cities most affected, New Yorkers would pay about $231 each to build 171 miles of seawalls. But in smaller places like Galveston, Texas, CCI estimates a cost to taxpayers of over $21,000 per person, and in one small North Carolina town the estimated cost for seawalls is a whopping $1.76 million per person.
Based on the report by the Center for Climate Integrity, these are the U.S. cities that will be hit hardest by rising seas, and the estimated costs to build protective seawalls.
Photo: Shutterstock
1. Jacksonville, Fla.
- Cost: $3.5 billion for 632 miles of seawalls
- Population: 892,000
- Avg. cost per person: $3,990
Photo: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
2. New York City
- Cost: $2 billion for 171 miles of seawalls
- Population: 8.6 million
- Avg. cost per person: $231
Photo: Shutterstock
3. Virginia Beach, Va.
- Cost: $1.7 billion for 255 miles of seawalls
- Population: 452,000
- Avg. cost per person: $3,814
Photo: Jay Yuan / Shutterstock
4. Marathon, Fla.
- Cost: $1.5 billion for 80 miles of seawalls
- Population: 8,877
- Avg. cost per person: $172,260
Marathon is a small city spread out over several of the Florida Keys.
Photo: Shutterstock
5. Fire Island, N.Y.
- Cost: $1.4 billion for 52 miles of seawalls
- Population: 241
- Avg. cost per person: $5.9 million
Photo: Shutterstock
6. Galveston, Texas
- Cost: $1.1 billion for 133 miles of seawalls
- Population: 50,497
- Avg. cost per person: $21,282
Photo: Shutterstock
7. Charleston, S.C.
- Cost: $1 billion for 194 miles of seawalls
- Population: 134,875
- Avg. cost per person: $7,865
Photo: Shutterstock
8. Bolivar Peninsula, Texas
- Cost: $967 million for 83 miles of seawalls
- Population: 2,413
- Avg. cost per person: $441,515
Photo: Shutterstock
9. Tampa, Fla.
- Cost: $938 million for 64 miles of seawalls
- Population: 385,430
- Avg. cost per person: $2,549
Photo: Shutterstock
10. Barnstable Town, Mass.
- Cost: $889 million for 63 miles of seawalls
- Population: 44,163
- Avg. cost per person: $20,062
Photo: Shutterstock
11. Corpus Christi, Texas
- Cost: $861 million for 127 miles of seawalls
- Population: 325,733
- Avg. cost per person: $2,668
Photo: Shutterstock
12. North Key Largo, Fla.
- Cost: $826.4 million for 55 miles of seawalls
- Population: 1,244
- Avg. cost per person: $619,004
Above, the Christ of the Abyss statue is located a few miles off Key Largo and is a popular diving spot. It is a casting of the original by Guido Galletti that sits in the Mediterranean Sea.
Photo: Shutterstock
13. Poquoson, Va.
- Cost: $820.7 million for 72 miles of seawalls
- Population: 12,000
- Avg. cost per person: $68,262
Photo: Kjst.wm.tribe.2015/Wikipedia
14. Islamorada, Village of Islands, Fla.
- Cost: $811.3 million for 37 miles of seawalls
- Population: 6,544
- Avg. cost per person: $125,044
Photo: Shutterstock
15. St. Petersburg, Fla.
- Cost: $751.4 million for 63 miles of seawalls
- Population: 263,255
- Avg. cost per person: $2,935
Photo: Shutterstock
16. New Orleans
- Cost: $725.1 million for 136 miles of seawalls
- Population: 393,292
- Avg. cost per person: $1,868
Above, flooding in central New Orleans in May, 2019. Federal, state and local governments spent more than $20 billion on levees, flood walls, gates and pumps in greater New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the New York Times reported last year, but much of the city is still below sea level.
Photo: Chris Nicotera / Shutterstock
17. North Topsail Beach, N.C.
- Cost: $724.1 million for 56 miles of seawalls
- Population: 1,050
- Avg. cost per person: $682,452
Photo: Shutterstock
18. Mobile, Ala.
- Cost: $717.7 million for 105 miles of seawalls
- Population: 190,265
- Avg. cost per person: $3,736
Photo: Shutterstock
19. Seattle
- Cost: $716.3 million for 46 miles of seawalls
- Population: 724,745
- Avg. cost per person: $1,041
Photo: Shutterstock
20. Ocracoke, N.C.
- Cost: $708 million for 54 miles of seawalls
- Population: 948
- Avg. cost per person: $747,000
Ocracoke is part of North Carolina's Outer Banks region.
Photo: Shutterstock
21. Dauphin Island, Ala.
- Cost: $685.2 million for 31 miles of seawalls
- Population: 1,269
- Avg. cost per person: $542,985
Photo: Shutterstock
22. Chesapeake, Va.
- Cost: $675 million for 124 miles of seawalls
- Population: 232,977
- Avg. cost per person: $2,867
Photo: Shutterstock
23. St. George Island, Fla.
- Cost: $674.6 million for 28 miles of seawalls
- Population: 740
- Avg. cost per person: $911,674
Photo: Shutterstock
24. Hampton, Va.
- Cost: $642.9 million for 68 miles of seawalls
- Population: 137,436
- Avg. cost per person: $4,719
Pictured is Fort Monroe National Monument in Hampton.
Photo: Shutterstock
25. Dames Quarter, Md.
- Cost: $611.4 million for 53 miles of seawalls
- Population: 162
- Avg. cost per person: $3.9 million
Photo: Riley Roberts Road/Wikipedia
26. Texas City, Texas
- Cost: $595.6 million for 45 miles of seawalls
- Population: 47,262
- Avg. cost per person: $12,603
Texas City is near Galveston.
Photo: BFS Man from Webster, TX, USA/Wikipedia
27. Camano, Wash.
- Cost: $580.7 million for 22 miles of seawalls
- Population: 16,595
- Avg. cost per person: $36,320
Photo: Shutterstock
28. Norfolk, Va.
- Cost: $574.6 million for 69 miles of seawalls
- Population: 245,115
- Avg. cost per person: $2,338
Pictured is "Rubber Duck," a temporary sculpture by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, in Norfolk in 2014.
Photo: Sherry V Smith / Shutterstock
29. Port Arthur, Texas
- Cost: $567.7 million for 80 miles of seawalls
- Population: 55,177
- Avg. cost per person: $10,289
Photo: Shutterstock
30. Chincoteague, Va.
- Cost: $505.6 million for 85 miles of seawalls
- Population: 2,888
- Avg. cost per person: $174,154
Above, Chincoteague Island is known for its wild horses and annual pony swim.
Visit ClimateCosts2040.org to see all of the rankings by state, county, city and Congressional district as well as the costs of seawalls; or to read the full report by the Center for Climate Integrity.
Photo: The Old Major / Shutterstock