Utica's Seismic Design Category, explained

Under the seismic model IBC and ASCE 7 use for new construction, Utica is Category B. Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. Nationally, Utica ranks above 54% of the 4,875 cities in this dataset for seismic hazard - the 54th percentile.

Utica by the numbers

The raw figures: peak ground acceleration 0.093g, short-period spectral response 0.178g, 1-second spectral response 0.058g. Among 170 New York cities in this dataset, Utica ranks 120 for seismic hazard, the 30th percentile within the state. About 63,660 people live in Utica, New York.

Retrofit economics for Utica

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

What this means for insurance

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 Utica address.

More on how this number was built

The methodology guide covers exactly how USGS's public design-maps API produced Utica'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.