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Risk & Response

Contra Costa County, CA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 82.5 Very High

1.2M
Population
12
Departments
76
Stations
242
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
12.1
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
8th highest of 58
Life Safety per 100k
1.04
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
26th highest of 58
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$801.3M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
8th highest of 58
Property Loss per Resident
$688
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
32nd highest of 58

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 Contra Costa County, the largest single contributor is Earthquake, 87% of the life-safety total.

Contra Costa County carries an expected 12 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $801.3M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 58 California counties. Nationally, Contra Costa County ranks 27th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1675th for life safety per 100k residents, 12th for property loss, and 416th 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 Contra Costa 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 Contra Costa County.

Talk to us about Contra Costa County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

83%
17%
Property (buildings): $801.3M (82.6%)
Life safety: $165.3M (17.0%)
Agriculture: $3.9M (0.4%)

Total expected annual loss: $970,544,977 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)

Earthquake
$143.3M
Heat Wave
$17.8M
Lightning
$1.4M
Inland Flooding
$1.0M
Wildfire
$911K
Tornado
$415K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$410.4M
Earthquake
$375.5M
Wildfire
$9.9M
Landslide
$2.3M
Tsunami
$1.0M
Tornado
$1.0M

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Contra Costa 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

42%
42%
17%
Career: 42% (5)
Combination: 42% (5)
Volunteer: 17% (2)
Residents per Station
15,329
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
6.5
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 12 departments registered in NERIS Public for Contra Costa County, CA. 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 Contra Costa 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 12 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Corteva Agriscience 886,474 $115.0M Very High 0
Martinez Refining Company Fire Brigade 886,474 $115.0M Very High 0
Ultramar Fire Department 886,474 $115.0M Very High 0
Contra Costa County FPD 825,784 $105.4M Very High 45
Richmond Fire Department 152,061 $35.1M Very High 7
Chevron Fire Department 115,674 $26.0M Very High 0
San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District 162,166 $18.8M Very High 10
El Cerrito Fire Department 26,107 $6.8M Relatively High 3
Moraga-Orinda Fire Protection District 36,361 $6.0M Very High 5
Crockett-Carquinez Fire Department 3,471 $1.1M Very High 3
Suisun Fire Protection District 1,514 $111.2K Very High 2
Delta Fire Protection District 420 $100.6K Very High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

8.4%
Poverty Rate
17.1%
Age 65+
11.1%
Disability Rate
4.6%
Uninsured
53.2%
Pre-1980 Housing
1.4%
Mobile Homes
3.5%
Vacancy Rate
0.4%
Wood Heat
$138,814
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

7
Last 10 Years
9
Last 25 Years
Flood
Most Frequent

Every department in your region, on one briefing

Our Regional tier gives state fire marshals and county fire authorities one briefing across every department in the jurisdiction: priority tracts ranked by risk and demand, NERIS adoption by county, and a quarterly report with a page per department. Response times appear for the departments you sponsor. Free 90-day pilot.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo