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Risk & Response

Isabella County, MI

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 50.3 Relatively Moderate

64,565
Population
9
Departments
11
Stations
18
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
0.41
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
35th highest of 83
Life Safety per 100k
0.63
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
46th highest of 83
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$16.5M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
27th highest of 83
Property Loss per Resident
$256
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
23rd highest of 83

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 Isabella County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 47% of the life-safety total.

Isabella County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $16.5M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 83 Michigan counties. Nationally, Isabella County ranks 1251st of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2333rd for life safety per 100k residents, 1043rd for property loss, and 2251st 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 Isabella 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 Isabella County.

Talk to us about Isabella County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

74%
25%
Property (buildings): $16.5M (73.9%)
Life safety: $5.6M (24.9%)
Agriculture: $267K (1.2%)

Total expected annual loss: $22,379,998 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)

Cold Wave
$2.6M
Tornado
$1.5M
Winter Weather
$583K
Strong Wind
$420K
Lightning
$238K
Heat Wave
$180K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$12.2M
Tornado
$2.0M
Strong Wind
$1.3M
Hail
$669K
Ice Storm
$131K
Earthquake
$83K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Isabella 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

22%
78%
Combination: 22% (2)
Volunteer: 78% (7)
Residents per Station
5,870
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
17.0
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 9 departments registered in NERIS Public for Isabella County, MI. 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 Isabella 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 Mt. Pleasant Fire Department 45,795 $4.1M Relatively Moderate 1
Nottawa-Sherman Township Fire Department 20,034 $1.6M Relatively Moderate 1
Deerfield Township Fire Department 17,795 $1.6M Relatively Low 1
Clare Fire Department 9,874 $1.0M Relatively Moderate 1
Fremont Township Fire Department 8,835 $696.1K Relatively Moderate 1
Shepherd Tri-Township Fire Department 6,204 $552.7K Relatively Moderate 3
Surrey Township Fire Department 4,528 $481.0K Relatively Moderate 1
Isabella Northeast Fire District 4,056 $332.5K Relatively Moderate 1
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe Fire Department 932 $74.4K Relatively High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

21.9%
Poverty Rate
14.0%
Age 65+
14.9%
Disability Rate
7.8%
Uninsured
46.7%
Pre-1980 Housing
8.7%
Mobile Homes
13.1%
Vacancy Rate
5.8%
Wood Heat
$58,401
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

3
Last 10 Years
5
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