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Risk & Response

Kossuth County, IA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 71.9 Relatively High

14,516
Population
9
Departments
9
Stations
6
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
0.28
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
28th highest of 99
Life Safety per 100k
1.96
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
22nd highest of 99
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$6.6M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
47th highest of 99
Property Loss per Resident
$457
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
37th 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 Kossuth County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 65% of the life-safety total.

Kossuth County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $6.6M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 99 Iowa counties. Nationally, Kossuth County ranks 1577th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 652nd for life safety per 100k residents, 1966th for property loss, and 1003rd 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 Kossuth 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 Kossuth County.

Talk to us about Kossuth County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

42%
25%
33%
Property (buildings): $6.6M (42.3%)
Life safety: $3.9M (24.8%)
Agriculture: $5.2M (32.9%)

Total expected annual loss: $15,681,116 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 33% of expected annual loss in Kossuth 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)

Cold Wave
$2.5M
Tornado
$780K
Lightning
$181K
Winter Weather
$158K
Strong Wind
$143K
Hail
$74K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$4.1M
Tornado
$2.0M
Strong Wind
$349K
Hail
$103K
Ice Storm
$62K
Winter Weather
$44K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Kossuth 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

89%
11%
Volunteer: 89% (8)
Unreported: 11% (1)
Residents per Station
1,613
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
62.0
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 9 departments registered in NERIS Public for Kossuth 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 Kossuth 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 9 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Armstrong Fire Department 5,064 $2.6M Very High 1
Algona Fire Department 7,105 $1.9M Relatively High 1
Bancroft Community Fire Department 928 $241.7K Relatively High 1
Titonka Fire Department 863 $238.7K Relatively High 1
Swea City Fire Department 778 $234.8K Very High 1
Burt Fire Department 721 $186.6K Relatively High 1
Lakota Fire Department 434 $131.3K Very High 1
Lone Rock Fire Department 397 $101.4K Relatively High 1
Ledyard Fire Department 239 $72.3K Very High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

8.2%
Poverty Rate
25.4%
Age 65+
13.7%
Disability Rate
3.8%
Uninsured
77.6%
Pre-1980 Housing
0.5%
Mobile Homes
9.2%
Vacancy Rate
0.8%
Wood Heat
$70,637
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

6
Last 10 Years
12
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