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Risk & Response

Wicomico County, MD

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 40.5 Relatively Moderate

104,914
Population
9
Departments
12
Stations
21
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
0.30
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
13th highest of 24
Life Safety per 100k
0.29
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
16th highest of 24
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$15.6M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
14th highest of 24
Property Loss per Resident
$149
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
9th highest of 24

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 Wicomico County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 36% of the life-safety total.

Wicomico County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $15.6M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 24 Maryland counties. Nationally, Wicomico County ranks 1503rd of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 3018th for life safety per 100k residents, 1097th for property loss, and 3106th 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 Wicomico 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 Wicomico County.

Talk to us about Wicomico County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

65%
17%
18%
Property (buildings): $15.6M (64.8%)
Life safety: $4.2M (17.3%)
Agriculture: $4.3M (18.0%)

Total expected annual loss: $24,089,515 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 18% of expected annual loss in Wicomico 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
$1.5M
Heat Wave
$746K
Lightning
$538K
Tornado
$407K
Hurricane
$385K
Winter Weather
$163K

By property loss ($/yr)

Hurricane
$7.8M
Inland Flooding
$5.9M
Coastal Flooding
$429K
Wildfire
$402K
Earthquake
$393K
Tornado
$292K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Wicomico 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

44%
56%
Combination: 44% (4)
Volunteer: 56% (5)
Residents per Station
8,743
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
11.4
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 9 departments registered in NERIS Public for Wicomico County, MD. 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 Wicomico 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 ▲
City of Salisbury Fire Department 75,236 $3.0M Relatively Low 3
Delmar Volunteer Fire Department 7,166 $607.9K Very High 1
Fruitland Volunteer Fire Company 11,574 $429.0K Relatively Low 1
Parsonsburg Volunteer Fire Company 5,579 $201.6K Relatively Moderate 1
Pittsville Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 2,935 $109.0K Relatively Moderate 1
Mardela Springs Volunteer Fire Company 2,590 $94.9K Relatively Moderate 1
Willards Volunteer Fire Company, Inc. 1,957 $72.9K Relatively Moderate 1
West Side Volunteer Fire Department 1,720 $70.3K Very High 1
Sharptown Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 1,501 $54.8K Relatively Moderate 2
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

13.9%
Poverty Rate
16.6%
Age 65+
11.9%
Disability Rate
6.7%
Uninsured
43.8%
Pre-1980 Housing
3.9%
Mobile Homes
8.3%
Vacancy Rate
1.2%
Wood Heat
$77,651
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

3
Last 10 Years
10
Last 25 Years
Hurricane
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