Arborlook
Arborlook Insights
Risk & Response

Colorado

Statewide risk profile

5.9M
Population
64
Counties
270
Departments
1,147
Stations

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
69.8
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
13th highest of 50
Life Safety per 100k
1.19
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
18th highest of 50
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$1.6B
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
23rd highest of 50
Property Loss per Resident
$273
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
35th highest of 50

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 Colorado, the largest single contributor is Avalanche, 58% of the life-safety total.

Colorado carries an expected 70 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $1.6B in building loss per year. Ranks compare the 50 states. 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 in Colorado enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Colorado.

Talk to us about Colorado See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

61%
36%
Property (buildings): $1.6B (61.1%)
Life safety: $956.2M (36.5%)
Agriculture: $62.9M (2.4%)

Total expected annual loss: $2,622,231,778 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)

Avalanche
$552.5M
Cold Wave
$112.2M
Lightning
$84.0M
Tornado
$69.5M
Inland Flooding
$33.1M
Strong Wind
$31.6M

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$924.4M
Hail
$307.7M
Wildfire
$201.3M
Tornado
$118.2M
Earthquake
$32.8M
Strong Wind
$11.3M

County Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across counties in this state. Click any county for its full profile.

Fire Service Profile

16%
34%
46%
Career: 16%
Combination: 34%
Volunteer: 46%
Unreported: 3%
Residents per Station
5,111
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
19.6
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 270 departments registered in NERIS Public for Colorado. Departments that have not registered are not counted. The mix is computed over the departments NERIS registers to Colorado; departments based elsewhere that respond into it are counted in the total above but not in the mix. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

County Rankings

Counties in Colorado ranked by risk. Click column headers to sort. Click a county to see its departments.

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 and station counts are derived from boundaries self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. A department serving several counties is counted in each, so the Departments column adds up to more than the statewide department total. Risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 64 counties
County ▲ Population ▲ Departments ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲
Eagle County 55,135 4 $99.2M Very High
Summit County 31,017 1 $98.9M Very High
Larimer County 367,368 17 $84.2M Relatively Moderate
Pitkin County 16,985 2 $69.6M Very High
El Paso County 742,999 26 $49.2M Relatively Low
Jefferson County 579,377 17 $39.0M Relatively Moderate
Adams County 530,225 14 $38.7M Relatively Low
Boulder County 328,961 22 $38.1M Relatively Moderate
Denver County 718,877 1 $32.5M Relatively Low
Clear Creek County 9,262 4 $32.4M Very High
Weld County 350,396 22 $30.2M Relatively Moderate
Gunnison County 17,241 8 $29.8M Relatively High
Grand County 15,895 5 $29.4M Very High
Garfield County 62,479 6 $26.6M Very High
Arapahoe County 659,844 7 $25.8M Relatively Low
La Plata County 56,331 4 $23.7M Very High
Chaffee County 20,178 3 $20.5M Very High
Douglas County 377,150 9 $20.4M Relatively Moderate
Pueblo County 169,356 11 $18.0M Relatively Low
Mesa County 158,601 8 $15.6M Relatively Low
San Miguel County 7,968 3 $14.8M Very High
Routt County 25,084 7 $9.6M Relatively High
Ouray County 5,087 4 $8.3M Very High
Montezuma County 26,412 7 $7.8M Relatively High
Logan County 20,892 6 $6.2M Very High
San Juan County 724 1 $6.0M Very High
Broomfield County 76,304 1 $5.3M Very Low
Fremont County 49,634 7 $5.2M Relatively Moderate
Rio Blanco County 6,544 2 $5.1M Very High
Morgan County 29,520 6 $4.5M Relatively High
Montrose County 43,807 5 $4.1M Relatively Moderate
Jackson County 1,372 1 $4.0M Very High
Yuma County 9,979 7 $3.3M Very High
Delta County 31,598 3 $3.3M Relatively High
Otero County 18,321 4 $3.0M Relatively High
Mineral County 729 1 $3.0M Very High
Conejos County 7,530 1 $3.0M Very High
Dolores County 2,432 3 $2.9M Very High
Teller County 24,825 9 $2.6M Relatively High
Elbert County 27,874 11 $2.6M Relatively High
Lake County 7,380 1 $2.6M Relatively Low
Saguache County 6,580 8 $2.6M Very High
Kit Carson County 7,023 6 $2.4M Very High
Rio Grande County 11,321 4 $2.1M Relatively High
Park County 17,907 6 $2.1M Relatively Moderate
Prowers County 11,910 4 $2.0M Very High
Alamosa County 16,581 3 $1.8M Relatively High
Las Animas County 14,413 10 $1.6M Relatively Moderate
Phillips County 4,496 2 $1.3M Very High
Bent County 5,549 2 $1.3M Relatively High
Custer County 5,247 1 $1.2M Relatively High
Washington County 4,831 5 $1.1M Relatively High
Lincoln County 5,550 5 $884.1K Relatively High
Baca County 3,428 5 $882.6K Very High
Crowley County 5,647 3 $867.5K Relatively Moderate
Moffat County 13,207 1 $748.3K Relatively Moderate
Archuleta County 13,900 3 $745.9K Relatively High
Gilpin County 5,901 2 $730.5K Relatively High
Sedgwick County 2,304 3 $590.7K Very High
Huerfano County 6,972 4 $578.8K Relatively High
Cheyenne County 1,741 1 $519.5K Very High
Hinsdale County 1,005 0 $370.5K Relatively Moderate
Kiowa County 1,376 0 $337.1K Very High
Costilla County 3,607 1 $268.4K Relatively Moderate
No counties match your search.
Don't see your department? Profiles exist for every department in NERIS Public with a published boundary polygon. Departments registered without a boundary, or not yet registered with NERIS, do not have a page yet because the analysis is geography-based. See why a department might be missing or contact us and we will look into it.

Risk Snapshot

9.4%
Poverty Rate
15.6%
Age 65+
11.4%
Disability Rate
7.7%
Uninsured
39.7%
Pre-1980 Housing
3.5%
Mobile Homes
8.3%
Vacancy Rate
1.4%
Wood Heat
$104,364
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

166
Last 10 Years
460
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