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Risk & Response

Jefferson County, IA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 63.7 Relatively High

15,705
Population
8
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
57th highest of 99
Life Safety per 100k
1.19
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
48th highest of 99
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$3.8M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
78th highest of 99
Property Loss per Resident
$242
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
92nd 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 Jefferson County, the largest single contributor is Heat Wave, 48% of the life-safety total.

Jefferson County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $3.8M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 99 Iowa counties. Nationally, Jefferson County ranks 2042nd of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1410th for life safety per 100k residents, 2510th for property loss, and 2379th 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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson County.

Talk to us about Jefferson County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

50%
34%
16%
Property (buildings): $3.8M (50.4%)
Life safety: $2.6M (34.0%)
Agriculture: $1.2M (15.6%)

Total expected annual loss: $7,523,802 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 16% of expected annual loss in Jefferson 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)

Heat Wave
$1.2M
Lightning
$370K
Tornado
$368K
Strong Wind
$312K
Cold Wave
$145K
Hail
$33K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$2.0M
Tornado
$820K
Hail
$519K
Strong Wind
$250K
Earthquake
$87K
Wildfire
$44K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Jefferson 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

12%
88%
Combination: 12% (1)
Volunteer: 88% (7)
Residents per Station
1,745
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
57.3
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 8 departments registered in NERIS Public for Jefferson 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 Jefferson 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 8 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Fairfield Fire Department 11,549 $1.9M Relatively High 1
Birmingham Fire Department 648 $230.3K Very High 1
Stockport Volunteer Fire Department 602 $212.4K Very High 2
Brighton Volunteer Fire Department 1,484 $191.6K Very High 1
Lockridge Emergency Response Unit 939 $152.3K Relatively High 1
Libertyville Fire & Rescue, Jefferson County 852 $141.2K Relatively High 1
Batavia Volunteer Fire Department 761 $126.4K Relatively High 1
Polk Packwood Volunteer Fire Department 545 $90.3K Relatively High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

15.2%
Poverty Rate
26.7%
Age 65+
13.4%
Disability Rate
6.7%
Uninsured
64.6%
Pre-1980 Housing
6.4%
Mobile Homes
9.8%
Vacancy Rate
4.0%
Wood Heat
$62,821
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

2
Last 10 Years
7
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