Plymouth, WI: what USGS's seismic model says

Plymouth carries Seismic Design Category A under USGS's ASCE 7-16 model. Lowest seismic design category. Building code requires no seismic-specific detailing here beyond ordinary construction practice. Nationally, Plymouth ranks above 10% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 10th percentile.

Plymouth by the numbers

USGS's underlying values for Plymouth: 0.029g peak ground acceleration, 0.06g at short period, 0.041g at 1 second. Within Wisconsin alone, Plymouth ranks 99 of 157 cities by seismic hazard - the 37th percentile in-state. Plymouth has a population of about 8,854.

Retrofit economics for Plymouth

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 Plymouth 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 Plymouth's figures come from

Plymouth'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 Plymouth.