Green Bay's Seismic Design Category, explained

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Green Bay in Seismic Design Category A: Lowest seismic design category. Building code requires no seismic-specific detailing here beyond ordinary construction practice. Rank it against the rest of the country and Green Bay sits at the 7th percentile for seismic hazard among 4,875 US cities.

Where Green Bay sits in Wisconsin

USGS's underlying values for Green Bay: 0.024g peak ground acceleration, 0.05g at short period, 0.036g at 1 second. Within Wisconsin alone, Green Bay ranks 123 of 157 cities by seismic hazard - the 22th percentile in-state. Green Bay has a population of about 106,311.

Bracing and bolting: the actual cost

A full earthquake retrofit typically runs $5,000-$10,000 nationally (around $7,000 typical), driven mainly by house size and foundation type, not by Wisconsin specifically. California's Earthquake Brace + Bolt grant, which covers a large share of this cost, is a California-only program and does not apply in Wisconsin.

Earthquake insurance for a Green Bay home

A Green Bay homeowner cannot buy a standalone earthquake policy in most cases - it is added to an existing homeowners policy as an endorsement, so the place to start is a regular home-insurance quote.

Where Green Bay's figures come from

Green Bay's Category A and every number above trace to USGS's own ASCE 7-16 Design Maps service - see the methodology guide. See the category explainer for what Category A does and doesn't tell you about Green Bay.