Top Hazards by Life-Safety Loss ($/yr)
Tornado
$190.4M
Cold Wave
$180.2M
Heat Wave
$94.0M
Strong Wind
$59.1M
Hurricane
$55.5M
County Rankings
Counties in North Carolina ranked by risk. Click column headers to sort. Click a county to see its departments.
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 and station counts are derived from boundaries self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. Risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.
| County ▲ | Population ▲ | Departments ▲ | Life-Safety Loss ▼ | NRI Rating ▲ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wake County | 1.2M | 26 | $37.7M | Relatively Low |
| Mecklenburg County | 1.2M | 15 | $36.3M | Relatively Low |
| New Hanover County | 235,229 | 7 | $28.7M | Very High |
| Onslow County | 207,906 | 16 | $25.2M | Very High |
| Buncombe County | 274,360 | 20 | $24.6M | Relatively Moderate |
| Cumberland County | 338,545 | 19 | $23.1M | Relatively Moderate |
| Union County | 250,958 | 18 | $22.6M | Relatively High |
| Johnston County | 234,263 | 25 | $19.4M | Relatively Moderate |
| Durham County | 332,353 | 12 | $18.6M | Relatively Moderate |
| Robeson County | 116,902 | 18 | $16.8M | Relatively High |
| Forsyth County | 389,977 | 21 | $16.5M | Relatively Low |
| Brunswick County | 152,568 | 20 | $16.4M | Very High |
| Rowan County | 149,875 | 18 | $16.1M | Relatively Moderate |
| Guilford County | 547,940 | 25 | $16.0M | Relatively Low |
| Pitt County | 177,193 | 17 | $15.4M | Relatively High |
| Henderson County | 118,484 | 19 | $14.2M | Relatively Moderate |
| Craven County | 102,612 | 18 | $14.0M | Very High |
| Gaston County | 234,881 | 28 | $13.1M | Relatively Low |
| Wayne County | 118,652 | 17 | $12.3M | Relatively High |
| Haywood County | 62,662 | 21 | $12.3M | Relatively High |
| Cabarrus County | 236,133 | 9 | $11.5M | Relatively Moderate |
| Davidson County | 172,954 | 26 | $11.4M | Relatively Moderate |
| Jackson County | 43,771 | 11 | $11.3M | Very High |
| Macon County | 37,941 | 9 | $11.0M | Very High |
| Harnett County | 139,150 | 13 | $10.3M | Relatively Moderate |
| Iredell County | 196,544 | 21 | $9.4M | Relatively Low |
| Orange County | 149,678 | 12 | $9.4M | Relatively Low |
| Surry County | 71,425 | 17 | $9.2M | Relatively Moderate |
| Nash County | 96,216 | 17 | $8.8M | Relatively Moderate |
| Pender County | 65,550 | 8 | $8.6M | Very High |
| Columbus County | 50,140 | 15 | $8.6M | Very High |
| Carteret County | 69,148 | 16 | $8.4M | Very High |
| Catawba County | 163,573 | 15 | $8.0M | Relatively Moderate |
| Alamance County | 176,893 | 14 | $7.9M | Relatively Low |
| Randolph County | 146,348 | 16 | $7.9M | Relatively Moderate |
| Transylvania County | 33,691 | 15 | $7.6M | Relatively High |
| Lenoir County | 54,919 | 13 | $7.5M | Very High |
| Moore County | 104,876 | 18 | $7.0M | Relatively Moderate |
| Edgecombe County | 48,736 | 14 | $6.4M | Relatively High |
| Watauga County | 55,123 | 16 | $6.4M | Relatively High |
| Rutherford County | 64,930 | 19 | $6.0M | Relatively Moderate |
| Beaufort County | 44,499 | 16 | $5.9M | Very High |
| Dare County | 37,875 | 11 | $5.9M | Very High |
| Wilson County | 79,290 | 10 | $5.8M | Relatively Moderate |
| Cleveland County | 100,991 | 16 | $5.6M | Relatively Moderate |
| Sampson County | 59,470 | 16 | $5.3M | Very High |
| Duplin County | 49,335 | 22 | $5.1M | Very High |
| Franklin County | 74,386 | 10 | $5.1M | Relatively Moderate |
| Bladen County | 29,566 | 15 | $4.5M | Very High |
| Chatham County | 80,151 | 11 | $4.4M | Relatively Moderate |
| Ashe County | 26,950 | 11 | $4.3M | Relatively High |
| Lincoln County | 92,716 | 12 | $4.3M | Relatively High |
| Hoke County | 53,835 | 8 | $4.1M | Relatively Moderate |
| Stanly County | 64,651 | 9 | $4.1M | Relatively Moderate |
| Lee County | 65,816 | 6 | $4.1M | Relatively Moderate |
| Richmond County | 42,344 | 9 | $4.0M | Relatively High |
| Halifax County | 47,675 | 9 | $4.0M | Relatively High |
| Burke County | 87,795 | 22 | $3.9M | Relatively Moderate |
| Scotland County | 33,590 | 7 | $3.8M | Relatively High |
| Caldwell County | 80,536 | 17 | $3.7M | Relatively Moderate |
| Wilkes County | 65,935 | 24 | $3.6M | Relatively High |
| Granville County | 60,877 | 12 | $3.3M | Relatively Moderate |
| Pasquotank County | 40,834 | 6 | $3.1M | Relatively High |
| Rockingham County | 92,131 | 20 | $2.8M | Relatively Moderate |
| Cherokee County | 29,562 | 15 | $2.7M | Relatively Moderate |
| McDowell County | 44,817 | 10 | $2.7M | Relatively Moderate |
| Vance County | 42,322 | 7 | $2.7M | Relatively Moderate |
| Yancey County | 18,797 | 7 | $2.6M | Relatively High |
| Madison County | 21,867 | 18 | $2.6M | Relatively Moderate |
| Swain County | 14,013 | 6 | $2.5M | Very High |
| Polk County | 19,891 | 10 | $2.4M | Relatively Moderate |
| Anson County | 22,289 | 5 | $2.4M | Relatively Moderate |
| Alleghany County | 11,174 | 8 | $2.3M | Very High |
| Bertie County | 17,170 | 14 | $2.2M | Very High |
| Davie County | 44,122 | 12 | $2.2M | Relatively Moderate |
| Mitchell County | 14,992 | 7 | $2.1M | Relatively High |
| Martin County | 21,644 | 5 | $2.1M | Very High |
| Person County | 39,542 | 8 | $2.0M | Relatively High |
| Avery County | 17,680 | 11 | $2.0M | Very High |
| Currituck County | 30,601 | 4 | $1.9M | Relatively Low |
| Montgomery County | 26,007 | 10 | $1.8M | Relatively Moderate |
| Yadkin County | 37,574 | 13 | $1.7M | Relatively Moderate |
| Washington County | 10,812 | 5 | $1.7M | Very High |
| Perquimans County | 13,244 | 5 | $1.7M | Very High |
| Alexander County | 36,412 | 5 | $1.7M | Relatively High |
| Greene County | 20,486 | 6 | $1.7M | Very High |
| Hertford County | 19,908 | 11 | $1.7M | Very High |
| Pamlico County | 12,390 | 6 | $1.7M | Very High |
| Graham County | 8,072 | 6 | $1.6M | Relatively High |
| Chowan County | 13,836 | 4 | $1.5M | Very High |
| Stokes County | 45,139 | 16 | $1.4M | Relatively Low |
| Warren County | 18,795 | 9 | $1.4M | Relatively High |
| Gates County | 10,376 | 5 | $1.3M | Relatively High |
| Clay County | 11,610 | 1 | $1.2M | Relatively High |
| Northampton County | 16,931 | 9 | $1.2M | Relatively Moderate |
| Hyde County | 4,592 | 6 | $1.0M | Very High |
| Caswell County | 22,404 | 13 | $975.3K | Relatively Moderate |
| Jones County | 9,302 | 11 | $946.0K | Very High |
| Camden County | 10,927 | 3 | $683.8K | Relatively High |
| Tyrrell County | 3,423 | 1 | $543.7K | Very High |
No counties match your search.
Risk Snapshot
13.0%
Poverty Rate
17.2%
Age 65+
13.6%
Disability Rate
9.9%
Uninsured
33.9%
Pre-1980 Housing
11.0%
Mobile Homes
12.5%
Vacancy Rate
1.1%
Wood Heat
$79,520
Median HH Income
FEMA Disaster Declarations
1219
Last 10 Years
1717
Last 25 Years
Hurricane
Most Frequent
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