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Arborlook Insights
Risk & Response

Dallas County, IA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 52.7 Relatively Moderate

107,968
Population
15
Departments
27
Stations
19
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
0.74
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
8th highest of 99
Life Safety per 100k
0.69
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
89th highest of 99
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$24.3M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
9th highest of 99
Property Loss per Resident
$225
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
96th 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 Dallas County, the largest single contributor is Tornado, 36% of the life-safety total.

Dallas County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $24.3M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 99 Iowa counties. Nationally, Dallas County ranks 770th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2247th for life safety per 100k residents, 748th for property loss, and 2551st 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 Dallas 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 Dallas County.

Talk to us about Dallas County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

61%
26%
13%
Property (buildings): $24.3M (61.2%)
Life safety: $10.2M (25.6%)
Agriculture: $5.2M (13.2%)

Total expected annual loss: $39,716,095 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 13% of expected annual loss in Dallas 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
$3.6M
Heat Wave
$2.1M
Cold Wave
$2.0M
Hail
$1.5M
Lightning
$382K
Strong Wind
$261K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$16.2M
Tornado
$5.9M
Strong Wind
$1.3M
Ice Storm
$354K
Hail
$219K
Winter Weather
$73K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Dallas 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

33%
40%
27%
Career: 33% (5)
Volunteer: 40% (6)
Unreported: 27% (4)
Residents per Station
3,999
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
25.0
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 15 departments registered in NERIS Public for Dallas 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 Dallas 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 15 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
West Des Moines Fire Department 74,282 $6.5M Relatively Moderate 7
Dallas Center Fire Department 46,604 $5.5M Relatively Moderate 1
Urbandale Fire Department 48,347 $4.3M Relatively Moderate 3
Johnston-Grimes Metropolitan Fire District 44,216 $3.8M Relatively Low 4
Waukee Fire Department 33,301 $2.4M Relatively Moderate 2
Jamaica Community Fire Department 11,749 $2.2M Relatively High 1
Clive Fire Department 19,271 $1.9M Relatively High 1
Adel Volunteer Fire Department 8,873 $800.6K Relatively High 1
Granger Fire Department 4,467 $388.9K Relatively High 1
Earlham Fire Department 3,343 $355.5K Relatively High 1
Van Meter Fire & Rescue 5,061 $286.7K Relatively Moderate 1
De Soto Fire & Rescue 2,624 $176.6K Relatively Moderate 1
Minburn Community Fire Department 932 $94.0K Relatively High 1
Dexter Fire & Rescue 845 $83.0K Relatively Moderate 1
Bouton Fire Department 258 $26.3K Relatively High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

6.3%
Poverty Rate
12.9%
Age 65+
7.7%
Disability Rate
3.9%
Uninsured
22.4%
Pre-1980 Housing
2.0%
Mobile Homes
5.2%
Vacancy Rate
0.4%
Wood Heat
$112,211
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

6
Last 10 Years
13
Last 25 Years
Severe Storm
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