Arborlook
Arborlook Insights
Risk & Response

Ada County, ID

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 19.7 Very Low

518,935
Population
7
Departments
42
Stations
129
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
1.57
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
4th highest of 44
Life Safety per 100k
0.30
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
39th highest of 44
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$94.1M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
1st highest of 44
Property Loss per Resident
$181
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
41st highest of 44

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 Ada County, the largest single contributor is Heat Wave, 32% of the life-safety total.

Ada County carries an expected 2 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $94.1M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 44 Idaho counties. Nationally, Ada County ranks 373rd of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2989th for life safety per 100k residents, 231st for property loss, and 2924th 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 Ada 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 Ada County.

Talk to us about Ada County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

81%
19%
Property (buildings): $94.1M (81.4%)
Life safety: $21.5M (18.6%)
Agriculture: $58K (0.0%)

Total expected annual loss: $115,618,921 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.

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
$7.0M
Strong Wind
$3.7M
Winter Weather
$3.0M
Lightning
$1.9M
Cold Wave
$1.7M
Earthquake
$1.5M

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$62.9M
Wildfire
$25.1M
Earthquake
$5.1M
Hail
$426K
Tornado
$363K
Strong Wind
$84K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Ada 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

86%
14%
Career: 86% (6)
Volunteer: 14% (1)
Residents per Station
12,356
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
8.1
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 7 departments registered in NERIS Public for Ada County, ID. 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 Ada 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 7 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Boise City Fire Department 282,120 $12.4M Very Low 18
Meridian Fire Department 155,101 $5.0M Very Low 8
Eagle Fire Protection District 53,480 $1.8M Relatively Low 4
Kuna Rural Fire District 38,217 $1.2M Very Low 3
North Ada County Fire & Rescue District 22,166 $999.3K Relatively Moderate 3
Star Fire Protection District 17,792 $499.8K Relatively Low 4
Melba Rural Fire Protection District 2,866 $112.5K Relatively Moderate 2
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

8.3%
Poverty Rate
16.2%
Age 65+
11.8%
Disability Rate
6.4%
Uninsured
27.5%
Pre-1980 Housing
2.7%
Mobile Homes
4.2%
Vacancy Rate
1.0%
Wood Heat
$99,264
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

3
Last 10 Years
4
Last 25 Years
Biological
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