Top Hazards by Life-Safety Loss ($/yr)
Tornado
$160.9M
Cold Wave
$126.7M
Heat Wave
$60.7M
Strong Wind
$52.6M
Hail
$26.5M
County Rankings
Counties in Iowa 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. Risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.
| County ▲ | Population ▲ | Departments ▲ | Life-Safety Loss ▼ | NRI Rating ▲ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polk County | 503,175 | 10 | $45.1M | Relatively Low |
| Johnson County | 156,639 | 10 | $35.0M | Relatively High |
| Linn County | 230,004 | 10 | $21.5M | Relatively Moderate |
| Woodbury County | 106,247 | 11 | $19.9M | Relatively High |
| Pottawattamie County | 93,424 | 3 | $18.0M | Relatively Moderate |
| Scott County | 174,608 | 8 | $16.8M | Relatively Moderate |
| Dubuque County | 99,030 | 9 | $13.2M | Relatively Moderate |
| Dallas County | 107,968 | 3 | $10.2M | Relatively Moderate |
| Black Hawk County | 131,049 | 9 | $9.4M | Relatively Low |
| Carroll County | 20,594 | 5 | $9.3M | Very High |
| Webster County | 36,886 | 4 | $8.3M | Relatively High |
| Story County | 100,466 | 5 | $7.0M | Relatively Moderate |
| Adair County | 7,460 | 2 | $6.9M | Very High |
| Cerro Gordo County | 42,632 | 4 | $6.6M | Relatively High |
| Wapello County | 35,362 | 3 | $6.4M | Relatively High |
| Cass County | 13,096 | 2 | $6.3M | Very High |
| Clinton County | 46,268 | 13 | $6.0M | Relatively High |
| Emmet County | 9,262 | 0 | $5.8M | Very High |
| Sioux County | 36,212 | 9 | $5.8M | Relatively High |
| Union County | 11,993 | 4 | $5.8M | Very High |
| Page County | 15,131 | 4 | $5.5M | Relatively High |
| Warren County | 54,409 | 6 | $5.4M | Relatively Low |
| Des Moines County | 38,487 | 6 | $5.3M | Relatively Moderate |
| Crawford County | 16,277 | 8 | $5.1M | Very High |
| Muscatine County | 42,559 | 5 | $4.7M | Relatively High |
| Lee County | 32,893 | 10 | $4.3M | Relatively High |
| Shelby County | 11,778 | 9 | $4.2M | Very High |
| Kossuth County | 14,516 | 9 | $3.9M | Relatively High |
| Montgomery County | 10,214 | 2 | $3.8M | Very High |
| Greene County | 8,688 | 9 | $3.7M | Very High |
| Clarke County | 9,662 | 4 | $3.6M | Very High |
| Marshall County | 40,114 | 5 | $3.4M | Relatively High |
| Plymouth County | 25,747 | 10 | $3.4M | Relatively High |
| Calhoun County | 9,803 | 4 | $3.3M | Very High |
| Henry County | 20,004 | 4 | $3.3M | Relatively High |
| Appanoose County | 12,184 | 2 | $3.2M | Relatively High |
| Palo Alto County | 8,863 | 6 | $3.1M | Relatively High |
| Jackson County | 19,390 | 9 | $3.0M | Relatively High |
| Bremer County | 25,204 | 4 | $2.9M | Relatively Moderate |
| Taylor County | 5,868 | 6 | $2.9M | Very High |
| Sac County | 9,689 | 7 | $2.8M | Very High |
| Jasper County | 37,954 | 6 | $2.8M | Relatively Moderate |
| Audubon County | 5,599 | 4 | $2.8M | Very High |
| Mills County | 14,568 | 6 | $2.8M | Relatively High |
| Guthrie County | 10,688 | 9 | $2.8M | Very High |
| Hardin County | 16,639 | 7 | $2.7M | Very High |
| Winneshiek County | 19,873 | 4 | $2.7M | Very High |
| Fayette County | 19,288 | 9 | $2.7M | Relatively High |
| Dickinson County | 17,990 | 2 | $2.7M | Relatively High |
| Allamakee County | 14,092 | 3 | $2.7M | Relatively High |
| Buena Vista County | 20,753 | 3 | $2.7M | Relatively High |
| Butler County | 14,268 | 6 | $2.6M | Relatively High |
| Marion County | 33,642 | 7 | $2.6M | Relatively Moderate |
| Van Buren County | 7,241 | 4 | $2.6M | Very High |
| Boone County | 26,668 | 6 | $2.6M | Relatively High |
| Ringgold County | 4,645 | 3 | $2.6M | Very High |
| Jefferson County | 15,705 | 4 | $2.6M | Relatively High |
| Poweshiek County | 18,545 | 4 | $2.5M | Relatively High |
| Clayton County | 17,013 | 13 | $2.5M | Relatively High |
| O'Brien County | 14,126 | 6 | $2.5M | Relatively High |
| Davis County | 9,157 | 3 | $2.4M | Very High |
| Hamilton County | 14,886 | 6 | $2.4M | Very High |
| Decatur County | 7,759 | 6 | $2.4M | Very High |
| Washington County | 22,561 | 4 | $2.3M | Relatively High |
| Delaware County | 17,558 | 4 | $2.3M | Very High |
| Lucas County | 8,716 | 6 | $2.3M | Relatively High |
| Jones County | 20,896 | 2 | $2.2M | Relatively High |
| Mahaska County | 22,021 | 2 | $2.2M | Relatively Moderate |
| Lyon County | 12,162 | 5 | $2.1M | Very High |
| Cedar County | 18,349 | 4 | $2.1M | Relatively High |
| Floyd County | 15,328 | 4 | $2.1M | Very High |
| Clay County | 16,461 | 2 | $2.0M | Very High |
| Madison County | 16,926 | 5 | $2.0M | Relatively High |
| Harrison County | 14,632 | 9 | $2.0M | Relatively High |
| Adams County | 3,622 | 2 | $2.0M | Very High |
| Ida County | 6,911 | 3 | $1.9M | Relatively High |
| Humboldt County | 9,591 | 8 | $1.9M | Relatively High |
| Iowa County | 16,507 | 5 | $1.9M | Very High |
| Benton County | 25,724 | 1 | $1.8M | Relatively High |
| Monroe County | 7,513 | 4 | $1.8M | Relatively High |
| Buchanan County | 20,694 | 4 | $1.8M | Relatively High |
| Monona County | 8,557 | 8 | $1.8M | Relatively High |
| Louisa County | 10,678 | 4 | $1.8M | Very High |
| Chickasaw County | 11,807 | 3 | $1.8M | Relatively High |
| Fremont County | 6,514 | 3 | $1.7M | Relatively High |
| Cherokee County | 11,600 | 5 | $1.7M | Relatively High |
| Wright County | 12,791 | 5 | $1.7M | Very High |
| Franklin County | 9,956 | 6 | $1.6M | Relatively High |
| Wayne County | 6,532 | 5 | $1.6M | Relatively High |
| Tama County | 16,868 | 7 | $1.6M | Relatively High |
| Hancock County | 10,671 | 5 | $1.5M | Relatively High |
| Pocahontas County | 7,046 | 8 | $1.5M | Very High |
| Winnebago County | 10,583 | 4 | $1.4M | Very High |
| Keokuk County | 9,924 | 7 | $1.3M | Relatively High |
| Osceola County | 6,100 | 5 | $1.2M | Very High |
| Grundy County | 12,384 | 5 | $1.1M | Relatively High |
| Howard County | 9,445 | 4 | $1.0M | Relatively High |
| Mitchell County | 10,575 | 2 | $1.0M | Very High |
| Worth County | 7,350 | 5 | $837.6K | Relatively High |
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Risk Snapshot
11.1%
Poverty Rate
18.1%
Age 65+
12.6%
Disability Rate
5.0%
Uninsured
61.6%
Pre-1980 Housing
3.2%
Mobile Homes
8.5%
Vacancy Rate
1.1%
Wood Heat
$79,835
Median HH Income
FEMA Disaster Declarations
469
Last 10 Years
1214
Last 25 Years
Severe Storm
Most Frequent
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