Distance to Coast — Insurance Hazard Data
distancetocoast.com measures the straight-line distance from any U.S. property address to the nearest NOAA mean-high-water shoreline. Built and operated by Ping Intel, a commercial property data platform used by brokers, carriers, MGAs, and reinsurers.
Insurers use distance to coast mainly as a proxy for hurricane wind exposure. It is a poor standalone measure of storm surge risk — surge can travel through bays, estuaries, canals, and tidal rivers well inland of the open coast.
Common insurance breakpoints
- <1 mile — highest coastal wind concern; restricted appetite for many carriers
- 1–5 miles — named storm deductibles and elevated wind pricing are common
- 5–15 miles — carrier-dependent wind surcharge or deductible treatment
- 15–25 miles — still relevant for some coastal states, carriers, and account types
- >25 miles — often outside simple distance-based triggers, but not automatically outside named storm concern
What the tool does
- Geocodes any U.S. address and computes straight-line distance to the nearest NOAA coastline
- Renders the result on an interactive map with address point, coast point, and connecting line
- Accuracy: generally within 50 meters, subject to source-coordinate quality and shoreline-dataset limitations
For more detail see the insurance guide to distance to coast and storm surge or the machine-readable summary.
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