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Risk & Response

Marion County, IA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 46.8 Relatively Moderate

33,642
Population
11
Departments
10
Stations
10
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
53rd highest of 99
Life Safety per 100k
0.56
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
95th highest of 99
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$8.8M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
34th highest of 99
Property Loss per Resident
$260
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
89th 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 Marion County, the largest single contributor is Tornado, 47% of the life-safety total.

Marion County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $8.8M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 99 Iowa counties. Nationally, Marion County ranks 2023rd of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2430th for life safety per 100k residents, 1665th for property loss, and 2197th 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 Marion 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 Marion County.

Talk to us about Marion County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

61%
18%
20%
Property (buildings): $8.8M (61.5%)
Life safety: $2.6M (18.2%)
Agriculture: $2.9M (20.3%)

Total expected annual loss: $14,246,802 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 20% of expected annual loss in Marion 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
$1.2M
Heat Wave
$788K
Lightning
$148K
Hail
$136K
Strong Wind
$115K
Inland Flooding
$72K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$6.0M
Tornado
$1.8M
Strong Wind
$496K
Hail
$187K
Earthquake
$82K
Ice Storm
$68K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Marion 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

9%
9%
73%
9%
Career: 9% (1)
Combination: 9% (1)
Volunteer: 73% (8)
Unreported: 9% (1)
Residents per Station
3,364
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
29.7
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 11 departments registered in NERIS Public for Marion 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 Marion 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 11 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Pella Fire Department 14,999 $1.1M Relatively Moderate 1
Knoxville Fire Department 7,289 $599.5K Relatively Moderate 1
Knoxville Township Rural Fire Department 7,289 $599.5K Relatively Moderate 1
Camp Township Fire Department 3,443 $296.0K Relatively High 1
Harvey Fire Department 3,281 $264.7K Relatively Moderate 0
Pleasantville Emergency Services 3,512 $243.4K Relatively Low 1
Monroe Community Fire Department 3,089 $239.8K Relatively High 1
Melcher-Dallas Fire Department 1,815 $138.7K Relatively Moderate 1
Clay Township Fire Department 704 $53.8K Relatively High 1
Indiana Township Fire Department 668 $51.0K Relatively High 1
Columbia Fire Department 535 $40.6K Relatively Moderate 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

8.2%
Poverty Rate
19.4%
Age 65+
13.6%
Disability Rate
2.5%
Uninsured
61.0%
Pre-1980 Housing
5.0%
Mobile Homes
7.4%
Vacancy Rate
1.7%
Wood Heat
$82,487
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

3
Last 10 Years
10
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