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Risk & Response

Custer County, MT

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 65.3 Relatively High

11,961
Population
3
Departments
4
Stations
6
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
0.42
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
20th highest of 56
Life Safety per 100k
3.55
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
25th highest of 56
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$4.0M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
28th highest of 56
Property Loss per Resident
$332
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
46th highest of 56

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 Custer County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 68% of the life-safety total.

Custer County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $4.0M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 56 Montana counties. Nationally, Custer County ranks 1218th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 221st for life safety per 100k residents, 2474th for property loss, and 1624th 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 Custer 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 Custer County.

Talk to us about Custer County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

39%
57%
Property (buildings): $4.0M (38.7%)
Life safety: $5.8M (56.7%)
Agriculture: $480K (4.7%)

Total expected annual loss: $10,262,668 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
$4.0M
Strong Wind
$514K
Lightning
$489K
Inland Flooding
$426K
Heat Wave
$154K
Winter Weather
$130K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$3.1M
Wildfire
$529K
Hail
$106K
Winter Weather
$100K
Earthquake
$54K
Tornado
$54K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Custer 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

33%
67%
Combination: 33% (1)
Volunteer: 67% (2)
Residents per Station
2,990
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
33.4
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 3 departments registered in NERIS Public for Custer County, MT. 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 Custer 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 3 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Miles City Fire-Rescue 11,998 $5.8M Relatively High 1
Custer County Rural Volunteer Fire Company 8,468 $4.1M Relatively Moderate 2
Ismay Rural Fire Department 40 $19.8K Very High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

11.3%
Poverty Rate
20.8%
Age 65+
21.3%
Disability Rate
7.7%
Uninsured
75.1%
Pre-1980 Housing
12.3%
Mobile Homes
12.9%
Vacancy Rate
1.0%
Wood Heat
$68,422
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

4
Last 10 Years
8
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