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.
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 Middlesex County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 29% of the life-safety total.
Middlesex County carries an expected 2 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $287.6M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 14 Massachusetts counties. Nationally, Middlesex County ranks 245th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 3205th for life safety per 100k residents, 44th for property loss, and 2958th 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 Middlesex 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 Middlesex County.
Talk to us about Middlesex County See what a department seesLoss Breakdown
Total expected annual loss: $321,947,714 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)
By property loss ($/yr)
Census Tract Risk Map
Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Middlesex 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
Department composition covers the 56 departments registered in NERIS Public for Middlesex 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 Middlesex 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.
| Department ▲ | Est. Population ▲ | Life-Safety Loss ▼ | NRI Rating ▲ | Stations ▲ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City Of Lowell Fire Department | 113,565 | $2.2M | Relatively Low | 9 |
| Cambridge Fire Department | 107,814 | $2.2M | Very Low | 20 |
| Newton Fire Department | 83,645 | $1.6M | Relatively Low | 7 |
| Framingham Fire Department | 69,178 | $1.5M | Very Low | 6 |
| Waltham Fire Department | 61,161 | $1.3M | Relatively Moderate | 10 |
| City Of Somerville Fire Deparment | 71,411 | $1.2M | Very Low | 6 |
| Malden Fire Department | 59,481 | $1.0M | Relatively Low | 5 |
| Medford Fire Department | 51,781 | $864.6K | Relatively Low | 15 |
| Billerica Fire Department | 40,224 | $855.4K | Relatively Low | 5 |
| Arlington Fire Department | 41,760 | $770.7K | Relatively Low | 7 |
| Chelmsford Fire Department | 34,631 | $755.6K | Relatively Low | 11 |
| Marlborough Fire Department | 39,986 | $733.7K | Relatively Low | 4 |
| Natick Fire Department | 34,839 | $700.9K | Relatively Low | 4 |
| Everett Fire Department | 44,805 | $698.4K | Very Low | 11 |
| Woburn Fire Department | 39,536 | $696.1K | Relatively Low | 10 |
| Massport Fire Rescue | 22,995 | $644.5K | Relatively Low | 5 |
| Tewksbury Fire Department | 29,931 | $640.2K | Relatively Low | 3 |
| Lexington Fire Department | 32,656 | $581.8K | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Dracut Fire Department | 30,965 | $575.4K | Relatively Low | 6 |
| Burlington Fire Department | 24,883 | $543.7K | Relatively Low | 3 |
| City Of Watertown Fire Department | 31,558 | $536.8K | Very Low | 3 |
| Wilmington Fire Department | 22,040 | $524.3K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Westford Fire Department | 23,852 | $495.3K | Relatively Low | 6 |
| Town Of Acton/Fire Department | 23,000 | $477.1K | Very Low | 4 |
| Wakefield Fire Department | 25,513 | $472.0K | Relatively Low | 4 |
| Reading Fire Department | 23,960 | $464.4K | Relatively Low | 4 |
| Belmont Fire Department | 24,268 | $464.0K | Very Low | 2 |
| Melrose Fire Department | 26,935 | $454.7K | Relatively Low | 3 |
| Hudson Fire Department | 18,609 | $387.6K | Relatively Low | 3 |
| Winchester Fire Department | 21,497 | $379.4K | Relatively Moderate | 4 |
| Concord Fire Department | 17,683 | $374.9K | Relatively Moderate | 2 |
| Town Of Stoneham Fire Department | 21,457 | $363.3K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Sudbury Fire Department | 18,494 | $355.0K | Relatively Low | 3 |
| North Reading Fire Department | 14,759 | $347.3K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Ashland Fire Department | 17,770 | $345.9K | Very Low | 1 |
| Hopkinton Fire Department | 18,717 | $338.4K | Very Low | 2 |
| Bedford Fire Department | 13,976 | $337.4K | Relatively Moderate | 2 |
| Holliston Fire Department | 14,372 | $280.1K | Relatively Low | 5 |
| Wayland Fire Department | 12,907 | $239.8K | Very Low | 4 |
| Weston Fire Department | 10,974 | $230.7K | Relatively Moderate | 4 |
| Tyngsborough Fire Department | 11,676 | $228.3K | Relatively Moderate | 6 |
| Groton Fire Department | 11,390 | $222.2K | Relatively Low | 3 |
| Pepperell Fire Department | 11,437 | $220.3K | Very Low | 5 |
| Devens Fire Department | 9,552 | $212.8K | Very Low | 2 |
| Maynard Fire Department | 9,934 | $206.5K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Town Of Littleton Fire Department | 9,821 | $193.2K | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Townsend Fire-Ems Department | 9,100 | $181.1K | Relatively Low | 6 |
| Ayer Fire Department | 7,983 | $166.7K | Very Low | 1 |
| Shirley Fire Department | 6,976 | $143.3K | Very Low | 2 |
| Stow Fire | 7,165 | $136.8K | Very Low | 1 |
| Town Of Lincoln Fire Department | 6,948 | $129.7K | Relatively Low | 1 |
| Carlisle Fire Department | 5,239 | $99.1K | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Boxborough Fire Department | 5,164 | $96.4K | Very Low | 1 |
| Sherborn Fire And Rescue Department | 4,427 | $82.8K | Relatively Low | 2 |
| Dunstable Fire Department | 3,408 | $66.6K | Very Low | 1 |
| Ashby Fire Department | 3,211 | $61.3K | Very Low | 2 |
Risk Snapshot
FEMA Disaster Declarations
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