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Risk & Response

Butler County, IA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 79.8 Relatively High

14,268
Population
10
Departments
9
Stations
5
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
0.19
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
52nd highest of 99
Life Safety per 100k
1.33
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
40th highest of 99
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$8.0M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
42nd highest of 99
Property Loss per Resident
$558
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
15th highest of 99

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 Butler County, the largest single contributor is Tornado, 40% of the life-safety total.

Butler County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $8.0M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 99 Iowa counties. Nationally, Butler County ranks 2019th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1223rd for life safety per 100k residents, 1763rd for property loss, and 681st 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 Butler 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 Butler County.

Talk to us about Butler County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

55%
18%
27%
Property (buildings): $8.0M (54.7%)
Life safety: $2.6M (17.9%)
Agriculture: $4.0M (27.4%)

Total expected annual loss: $14,539,025 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 27% of expected annual loss in Butler 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)

Tornado
$1.0M
Strong Wind
$538K
Cold Wave
$528K
Inland Flooding
$191K
Winter Weather
$112K
Hail
$109K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$6.5M
Tornado
$836K
Strong Wind
$386K
Hail
$164K
Winter Weather
$26K
Ice Storm
$22K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Butler 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

80%
20%
Volunteer: 80% (8)
Unreported: 20% (2)
Residents per Station
1,585
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
63.1
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 10 departments registered in NERIS Public for Butler County, IA. 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 Butler 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 10 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Parkersburg Fire Department 12,389 $2.1M Relatively High 1
Aplington Fire Department 11,077 $1.8M Relatively High 1
Stout Fire Department 11,217 $1.7M Relatively High 1
Dougherty Fire Department 9,827 $1.6M Very High 1
Ackley Fire Department 10,140 $1.5M Very High 1
Shell Rock Fire Department 6,043 $1.2M Very High 1
New Hartford Volunteer Fire Department 3,131 $622.8K Relatively High 1
Clarksville Fire Department 2,912 $530.7K Very High 1
Aredale Fire Department 1,819 $336.1K Relatively High 1
Dumont Volunteer Fire Department 1,819 $336.1K Relatively High 0
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

9.2%
Poverty Rate
23.2%
Age 65+
12.3%
Disability Rate
3.2%
Uninsured
73.4%
Pre-1980 Housing
1.8%
Mobile Homes
10.8%
Vacancy Rate
3.4%
Wood Heat
$76,783
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

5
Last 10 Years
15
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