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Risk & Response

Jefferson County, AL

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 52.3 Relatively Moderate

667,755
Population
48
Departments
169
Stations
189
Census Tracts

Natural Hazard Loss Profile

Expected annual loss across the 18 natural hazards in FEMA's National Risk Index. Life safety is expressed in fatality-equivalents, combining expected deaths and injuries. Property loss counts building damage only, not agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
5.46
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
1st highest of 67
Life Safety per 100k
0.82
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
47th highest of 67
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$187.5M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
3rd highest of 67
Property Loss per Resident
$281
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
42nd highest of 67

These figures cover natural hazards only. Structure fire, EMS, and motor vehicle incidents are not in the National Risk Index, so this is not an all-cause life safety measure. For Jefferson County, the largest single contributor is Tornado, 33% of the life-safety total.

Jefferson County carries an expected 5 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $187.5M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 67 Alabama counties. Nationally, Jefferson County ranks 97th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2044th for life safety per 100k residents, 99th for property loss, and 2004th for property loss per resident. Computed from census tract data covering every resident, independent of fire department boundaries.

Add fire mortality, cause, and loss

Natural hazard exposure is only part of the risk. Fire deaths and injuries, cause of ignition, and dollar loss per incident come from NERIS incident reporting, which grows as departments serving Jefferson County enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Jefferson County.

Talk to us about Jefferson County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

71%
29%
Property (buildings): $187.5M (71.5%)
Life safety: $74.8M (28.5%)
Agriculture: $33K (0.0%)

Total expected annual loss: $262,366,840 per year. Life safety is shown here in dollars, at FEMA's $13.7M value of statistical life, so the three shares sum to the total.

Hazards Ranked Two Ways

The hazard that threatens people is often not the hazard that destroys buildings. Both columns cover the same 18 hazards over the same year.

By life-safety loss ($/yr)

Tornado
$24.7M
Cold Wave
$23.1M
Heat Wave
$11.1M
Earthquake
$5.3M
Lightning
$5.1M
Strong Wind
$3.4M

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$141.3M
Tornado
$31.4M
Earthquake
$11.6M
Hurricane
$1.1M
Strong Wind
$676K
Ice Storm
$631K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Jefferson County. Gray tracts have no modeled loss or no resident population. Per-resident figures on this map use the National Risk Index 2020 tract population.

Fire Service Profile

33%
38%
27%
Career: 33% (16)
Combination: 38% (18)
Volunteer: 27% (13)
Unreported: 2% (1)
Residents per Station
3,951
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
25.3
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 48 departments registered in NERIS Public for Jefferson County, AL. Departments that have not registered are not counted. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

Department Rankings

Fire and EMS departments serving Jefferson County. Click column headers to sort.

NRI Rating is from FEMA's National Risk Index, which measures community risk across 18 natural hazards using expected annual losses, social vulnerability, and community resilience. Life-Safety Loss uses FEMA's Value of Statistical Life ($13.7M per expected fatality) to estimate annual risk to human life.

Department boundaries and station counts are self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. Population and Life-Safety Loss reflect each department's full jurisdiction. County-level risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 48 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Rex Lake Fire District 524,957 $59.7M Relatively Moderate 0
Mountain Brook Fire Department 503,534 $56.7M Relatively Moderate 3
Homewood Fire & Rescue Service 503,463 $56.7M Relatively Moderate 5
City Of Brighton Fire Department 503,455 $56.7M Relatively Moderate 1
Gardendale Fire And Rescue 503,455 $56.7M Relatively Moderate 3
Lipscomb Fire & Rescue 503,455 $56.7M Relatively Moderate 0
Tarrant Fire & Rescue 503,455 $56.7M Relatively Moderate 1
Trussville Fire And Rescue 503,455 $56.7M Relatively Moderate 4
Birmingham Fire And Rescue Service Department 200,845 $23.3M Relatively Moderate 32
Eastern Valley Fire District 92,760 $9.9M Relatively Moderate 1
Hoover Fire Department 81,212 $9.8M Relatively High 13
Henagar Volunteer Fire Department 58,574 $8.7M Relatively High 0
Argo Fire Department 55,267 $5.6M Relatively Moderate 2
Mt High Volunteer Fire Department & Rescue Squad 36,369 $4.6M Relatively High 1
Forestdale Fire District 37,195 $4.3M Relatively Moderate 6
Vestavia Hills Fire Department 38,629 $4.3M Relatively High 9
Palmerdale Fire District 35,398 $4.1M Relatively Moderate 4
Bessemer Fire Department 27,920 $3.1M Relatively Moderate 6
Maytown Fire Department 30,687 $3.1M Relatively Moderate 1
Ricetown Volunteer Fire & Rescue 24,627 $3.1M Relatively Moderate 1
Cahaba Valley Fire & Emergency Medical Rescue District 22,464 $3.1M Relatively Moderate 4
Helena Fire Department 23,469 $3.0M Relatively Moderate 5
Rocky Ridge Fire District 23,903 $2.8M Relatively Moderate 2
Hueytown Fire & Rescue 16,462 $1.9M Relatively High 7
Center Point Fire District 15,040 $1.9M Relatively Low 8
Mccalla Area Fire District 16,913 $1.8M Relatively Moderate 4
Morris Fire Department 14,990 $1.7M Relatively Moderate 1
Minor Heights Fire District 17,682 $1.6M Relatively High 2
Mcadory Area Fire District 14,918 $1.5M Relatively Moderate 3
City Of Irondale Fire Department 13,307 $1.4M Relatively High 6
Leeds Fire Department 12,619 $1.3M Relatively Moderate 2
Fultondale Fire & Rescue 10,243 $1.1M Relatively Moderate 5
Pleasant Grove Fire Department 9,382 $1.0M Relatively Low 2
Fairfield Fire Department 9,260 $1.0M Relatively Moderate 2
Kimberly Fire & Rescue 6,758 $820.9K Relatively Moderate 2
Mount Olive Fire And Rescue District 6,526 $748.5K Relatively Moderate 2
Concord Fire District 6,504 $716.1K Relatively Moderate 5
Midfield Fire Department 5,383 $617.0K Relatively Moderate 1
Birmingport Fire District 3,845 $453.7K Relatively High 2
Bagley Volunteer Fire & Rescue 3,744 $431.5K Relatively Moderate 1
Warrior Fire Department 3,277 $405.9K Relatively Low 1
Graysville Fire Department 1,956 $212.6K Relatively Moderate 2
Sylvan Springs Fire Department 1,718 $180.1K Relatively Moderate 2
Brookside Fire Department 1,814 $171.6K Relatively Moderate 1
Shady Grove Volunteer Fire Department 1,654 $146.8K Relatively Low 1
Warrior River Fire Department 762 $90.7K Relatively Moderate 1
Adger Volunteer Fire Department 839 $78.6K Relatively Low 1
Cane Creek Volunteer Fire Department 481 $56.5K Relatively Moderate 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

15.7%
Poverty Rate
16.8%
Age 65+
15.4%
Disability Rate
9.4%
Uninsured
59.0%
Pre-1980 Housing
3.1%
Mobile Homes
13.2%
Vacancy Rate
0.1%
Wood Heat
$78,369
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

8
Last 10 Years
23
Last 25 Years
Severe Storm
Most Frequent

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