The Basement Risk Index

Metro Detroit, scored block by block

The Basement Risk Index rates 1,100 neighborhoods and 116 communities on their exposure to basement water, built from public housing-age and flood data. Hover any area, or pick your community, to see where you stand.

1,100neighborhoods scored
116communities ranked
38%of metro homes predate modern drainage
615,697homes in the high-risk band
Lower indexHigher index

Each shaded area is a census neighborhood, rated on the Basement Risk Index. Brighter means higher modeled exposure to basement water intrusion. An index of relative risk, not a prediction for any single property.

Your community report

Click your community on the map, or pick one:

Hover the map to explore neighborhoods, then click your community for its Basement Risk Index score and what to do about it.
0 /100 BRI
Homes built before 1960
Median year built
Median home value

What to do about it

    Highest-risk communities

    The metro Detroit basement risk leaderboard

    CommunityBRIPre-1960 homesMedian value
    1Pleasant Ridge10094%$393,900
    2Grosse Pointe9688%$379,400
    3Grosse Pointe Park9688%$445,100
    4Detroit9278%$66,700
    5Hamtramck9180%$103,100
    6Grosse Pointe Farms8886%$409,200
    7Huntington Woods8787%$457,600
    8Ferndale8578%$218,000
    9River Rouge8374%$49,200
    10Berkley8279%$275,100
    11Wyandotte7976%$147,900
    12Eastpointe7777%$115,100
    13Allen Park7777%$165,600
    14Redford Township7777%$130,900

    Ranked by the Basement Risk Index. Older, higher-value inner-ring communities top the list: the same brick homes that flooded across metro Detroit in the June 2021 storms. Read the 2026 findings.

    About the Basement Risk Index

    The Basement Risk Index (BRI) is a 0–100 score built by Basement Risk Check from public data. The two largest inputs are U.S. Census measures of housing age, the share of homes built before 1960 and the median year built, which are the strongest structural predictors of basement water in this region. Detroit’s score also incorporates more than 13,400 documented Improve Detroit / 311 water-in-basement reports; suburban scores are modeled from housing data, with no municipal flood records integrated yet. Scores are rescaled 0–100 across all 116 communities. Our full methodology is published, including sources, dates, and what the score does and does not mean.

    Cite as: Basement Risk Check, “Metro Detroit Basement Risk Index,” 2026. basementriskcheck.com/metro

    Why housing age drives basement flooding

    Homes built before the 1960s were never built to stay dry

    Modern basements have a sump pump, exterior weeping tile, and often a backwater valve. None of that was standard before the 1960s. Across metro Detroit, the older the housing stock, the more homes are fighting water with original clay drain tiles that have been silently failing for decades, on the heavy clay soil that blankets the region. That is why the inner-ring communities, from Pleasant Ridge and Huntington Woods to the Grosse Pointes, carry the highest Index scores, and why they were hit hardest in the 2021 storms.

    Why this exists

    In June 2021, storms put tens of thousands of metro Detroit basements underwater in a weekend and brought a federal disaster declaration to Wayne County. Most homeowners never knew their street had a history. We are a southeast Michigan team that built the Index so you can see your community’s risk before the next storm, not after.

    Using this data

    The Basement Risk Index is free to use and cite. If you are a journalist or run a community resource page and want the full ranking, the methodology, or a breakdown for a specific community, reach the team at hello@basementriskcheck.com.