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Risk & Response

Essex County, MA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 35.6 Relatively Low

813,054
Population
34
Departments
141
Stations
174
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
1.50
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
4th highest of 14
Life Safety per 100k
0.18
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
8th highest of 14
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$176.1M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
2nd highest of 14
Property Loss per Resident
$217
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
6th highest of 14

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 Essex County, the largest single contributor is Tornado, 25% of the life-safety total.

Essex County carries an expected 2 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $176.1M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 14 Massachusetts counties. Nationally, Essex County ranks 391st of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 3184th for life safety per 100k residents, 112th for property loss, and 2626th 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 Essex 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 Essex County.

Talk to us about Essex County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

89%
10%
Property (buildings): $176.1M (88.6%)
Life safety: $20.6M (10.4%)
Agriculture: $2.1M (1.1%)

Total expected annual loss: $198,805,979 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)

Tornado
$5.2M
Cold Wave
$3.8M
Heat Wave
$3.7M
Earthquake
$2.9M
Lightning
$1.9M
Strong Wind
$1.3M

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$123.5M
Coastal Flooding
$19.2M
Hurricane
$14.2M
Earthquake
$11.8M
Tornado
$4.1M
Ice Storm
$2.4M

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Essex 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

47%
38%
15%
Career: 47% (16)
Combination: 38% (13)
Volunteer: 15% (5)
Residents per Station
5,766
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
17.3
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 34 departments registered in NERIS Public for Essex County, MA. 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 Essex 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 34 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Lawrence Fire Department 82,561 $2.5M Relatively Moderate 13
Lynn Fire Department 93,892 $2.0M Relatively Low 11
Haverhill Fire Department 66,743 $1.8M Relatively Low 17
Methuen Fire Department 49,743 $1.3M Relatively Low 4
Peabody Fire Department 51,172 $1.2M Relatively Low 11
Andover Fire Rescue 35,315 $1.1M Relatively Moderate 5
Salem Fire Department 34,606 $894.1K Relatively Low 11
Beverly Fire Department 37,548 $854.3K Very Low 3
North Andover Fire Department 29,677 $796.4K Relatively Moderate 4
Danvers Fire Department 25,445 $706.7K Relatively Moderate 4
Saugus Fire Department 26,136 $629.7K Relatively Moderate 2
Gloucester Fire Department 24,346 $554.8K Relatively Low 9
Amesbury Fire Rescue Department 16,396 $406.7K Relatively Low 3
Newburyport Fire Department 14,429 $377.9K Relatively Moderate 3
Marblehead Fire Department 16,804 $364.0K Relatively Low 2
Ipswich Fire Department 13,369 $305.8K Relatively Moderate 4
Swampscott Fire Department 13,319 $303.4K Very Low 2
Lynnfield Fire Department 12,100 $288.1K Relatively Low 2
Salisbury Fire Rescue 9,076 $270.8K Relatively High 2
Middleton Fire Department 9,220 $226.4K Relatively Low 2
Georgetown Fire Department 8,023 $194.2K Very Low 2
Boxford Fire Department 8,208 $189.6K Relatively Moderate 2
Hamilton Fire Department 7,318 $173.5K Relatively Low 2
Newbury Fire Department 6,777 $167.1K Relatively Moderate 2
Merrimac Fire Department 6,330 $155.3K Relatively Moderate 1
Topsfield Fire Department 6,109 $155.3K Relatively Moderate 2
Town Of Groveland Fire Department 6,267 $148.3K Relatively Low 4
Rowley Fire Department 6,251 $140.9K Relatively Moderate 1
Rockport Fire Department 6,286 $133.3K Relatively Low 3
West Newbury Fire Department 4,591 $103.0K Relatively Low 2
Wenham Fire Department 4,467 $101.5K Very Low 2
Manchester Fire Department 4,453 $101.1K Relatively Low 2
Essex Fire Department 3,701 $88.3K Relatively Low 1
Nahant Fire Department 1,565 $39.2K Relatively Low 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

9.4%
Poverty Rate
18.5%
Age 65+
12.3%
Disability Rate
2.8%
Uninsured
69.2%
Pre-1980 Housing
0.4%
Mobile Homes
5.0%
Vacancy Rate
0.6%
Wood Heat
$112,832
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

5
Last 10 Years
26
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.

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