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Arborlook Insights
Risk & Response

Palm Beach County, FL

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 51.3 Relatively Moderate

1.5M
Population
13
Departments
138
Stations
373
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
3.16
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
8th highest of 67
Life Safety per 100k
0.21
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
66th highest of 67
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$440.9M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
3rd highest of 67
Property Loss per Resident
$287
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
41st 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 Palm Beach County, the largest single contributor is Hurricane, 40% of the life-safety total.

Palm Beach County carries an expected 3 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $440.9M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 67 Florida counties. Nationally, Palm Beach County ranks 166th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 3159th for life safety per 100k residents, 22nd for property loss, and 1956th 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 Palm Beach 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 Palm Beach County.

Talk to us about Palm Beach County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

85%
8%
Property (buildings): $440.9M (85.0%)
Life safety: $43.3M (8.4%)
Agriculture: $34.4M (6.6%)

Total expected annual loss: $518,586,990 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.

Agriculture is 7% of expected annual loss in Palm Beach County, so total loss overstates property loss here. The property figure above counts building loss only.

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)

Hurricane
$17.2M
Heat Wave
$12.8M
Lightning
$7.7M
Strong Wind
$1.6M
Tornado
$1.4M
Inland Flooding
$1.1M

By property loss ($/yr)

Hurricane
$254.4M
Inland Flooding
$167.3M
Tornado
$7.1M
Coastal Flooding
$6.8M
Wildfire
$2.9M
Lightning
$1.2M

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Palm Beach 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

85%
Career: 85% (11)
Combination: 8% (1)
Volunteer: 8% (1)
Residents per Station
11,115
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
9.0
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 13 departments registered in NERIS Public for Palm Beach County, FL. 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 Palm Beach 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 13 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue 940,371 $26.3M Relatively Moderate 83
West Palm Beach Fire Department 117,828 $3.2M Relatively Moderate 9
Boca Raton Fire Rescue Services Department 99,387 $2.8M Relatively High 10
Delray Beach Fire Rescue 69,736 $2.1M Relatively Moderate 5
Boynton Beach Fire Rescue Department 71,374 $2.1M Relatively Moderate 6
Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue 61,860 $1.6M Relatively High 6
Parkland Public Safety Department 38,108 $1.5M Very High 0
Greenacres Fire Rescue 35,384 $1.0M Relatively Moderate 6
Riviera Beach Fire Rescue 27,491 $781.0K Relatively Moderate 5
North Palm Beach Fire Rescue 12,714 $433.4K Relatively Moderate 2
Palm Beach Fire-Rescue Department 8,209 $367.8K Relatively High 3
Tequesta Fire Rescue 6,586 $183.0K Relatively Moderate 2
Palm Beach Shores Fire Department 537 $18.6K Very Low 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

11.3%
Poverty Rate
24.8%
Age 65+
12.3%
Disability Rate
13.2%
Uninsured
33.5%
Pre-1980 Housing
2.8%
Mobile Homes
15.8%
Vacancy Rate
0.0%
Wood Heat
$92,063
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

15
Last 10 Years
25
Last 25 Years
Hurricane
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