Arborlook
Arborlook Insights
Risk & Response

Mason County, MI

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 33.1 Relatively Low

29,207
Population
9
Departments
9
Stations
9
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
0.11
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
71st highest of 83
Life Safety per 100k
0.39
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
74th highest of 83
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$4.9M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
61st highest of 83
Property Loss per Resident
$169
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
76th 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 Mason County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 34% of the life-safety total.

Mason County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $4.9M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 83 Michigan counties. Nationally, Mason County ranks 2533rd of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2802nd for life safety per 100k residents, 2246th for property loss, and 2998th 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 Mason 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 Mason County.

Talk to us about Mason County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

75%
24%
Property (buildings): $4.9M (75.5%)
Life safety: $1.5M (23.6%)
Agriculture: $57K (0.9%)

Total expected annual loss: $6,539,044 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
$521K
Winter Weather
$451K
Strong Wind
$205K
Tornado
$135K
Heat Wave
$130K
Lightning
$83K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$4.4M
Strong Wind
$319K
Tornado
$147K
Hail
$31K
Earthquake
$23K
Ice Storm
$22K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Mason 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

100%
Volunteer: 100% (9)
Residents per Station
3,245
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
30.8
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 9 departments registered in NERIS Public for Mason 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 Mason 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 ▲
Pere Marquette Charter Township Fire Department 16,389 $844.4K Relatively Low 1
Ludington Fire Department 7,756 $400.7K Relatively Low 1
Scottville Fire Department 3,944 $200.6K Relatively Low 1
Fountain Area Fire Department 2,229 $129.5K Relatively Low 1
Riverton Fire Department 2,319 $127.1K Relatively Low 1
Branch Township Fire Department 1,275 $81.5K Relatively Low 1
Custer Fire Department 1,310 $74.5K Relatively Low 1
Grant Township Fire/Rescue 1,095 $58.3K Relatively Low 1
Free Soil/ Meade Fire Department 920 $52.5K Relatively Low 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

14.1%
Poverty Rate
26.3%
Age 65+
17.0%
Disability Rate
5.2%
Uninsured
56.0%
Pre-1980 Housing
10.4%
Mobile Homes
27.3%
Vacancy Rate
8.5%
Wood Heat
$65,320
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

2
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