Knowledge of low-income issues in floodplain management is spotty. Repeated flooding resulting from hurricanes striking North Carolina, and most recently Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, has raised concerns that vulnerable low-income communities may be more exposed to the devastating costs of flooding. This issue has been covered in the popular press but to date has received only modest attention in the academic literature. Shilling et al. (1989) and Browne and Hoyt (2000) evaluated insurance penetration for low income inhabitants. In this paper, we explore the relation of poverty and flood risk in a stratified sample of Census blocks located in special flood hazard areas (SFHAs).