Monroe's Seismic Design Category, explained

USGS's ASCE 7-16 seismic design model - the same standard building codes use - places Monroe in Seismic Design Category B: Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. Nationally, Monroe ranks above 41% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 41th percentile.

Monroe by the numbers

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.064g, short-period spectral response 0.134g, 1-second spectral response 0.08g. Among 59 Louisiana cities in this dataset, Monroe ranks 3 for seismic hazard, the 97th percentile within the state. About 46,622 people live in Monroe, Louisiana.

Retrofit economics for Monroe

Outside California, no state-level retrofit grant equivalent to Brace + Bolt could be found for Louisiana. A typical retrofit still runs $5,000-$10,000 nationally, about $7,000 for a common single-family job.

Earthquake insurance for a Monroe home

Outside California, earthquake coverage is typically sold as an endorsement added to a standard homeowners policy, not a separate product - worth asking about directly when getting a home-insurance quote for a Monroe address.

More on how this number was built

The methodology guide covers exactly how USGS's public design-maps API produced Monroe's numbers. The guide to what a Seismic Design Category actually means covers why a category is never a substitute for an engineer's assessment of one specific house.