Menomonee Falls's Seismic Design Category, explained

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Menomonee Falls in Seismic Design Category B: Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. That puts Menomonee Falls in the 18th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 18% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

How Menomonee Falls compares

USGS's underlying values for Menomonee Falls: 0.035g peak ground acceleration, 0.072g at short period, 0.047g at 1 second. Within Wisconsin alone, Menomonee Falls ranks 62 of 157 cities by seismic hazard - the 61th percentile in-state. Menomonee Falls has a population of about 40,700.

What a retrofit costs in Menomonee Falls

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.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Menomonee Falls 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 Menomonee Falls's figures come from

Menomonee Falls's Category B 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 B does and doesn't tell you about Menomonee Falls.