Youngstown's Seismic Design Category, explained

Youngstown carries Seismic Design Category B under USGS's ASCE 7-16 model. Low seismic hazard. Code requires basic seismic detailing (bracing, connections) but no special structural system restrictions. That puts Youngstown in the 35th percentile nationally for seismic hazard - higher than 35% of the 4,875 US cities USGS was checked against here.

How Youngstown compares

USGS's underlying values for Youngstown: 0.057g peak ground acceleration, 0.112g at short period, 0.046g at 1 second. Within Ohio alone, Youngstown ranks 214 of 254 cities by seismic hazard - the 16th percentile in-state. Youngstown has a population of about 59,123.

What a retrofit costs in Youngstown

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 Ohio 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 Ohio.

Insuring against this, not just retrofitting

A Youngstown 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 Youngstown's figures come from

Youngstown'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 Youngstown.