Arborlook
Arborlook Insights
Risk & Response

Cleveland County, NC

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 46.7 Relatively Moderate

100,991
Population
15
Departments
36
Stations
24
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
45th highest of 100
Life Safety per 100k
0.40
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
78th highest of 100
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$20.9M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
42nd highest of 100
Property Loss per Resident
$207
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
84th highest of 100

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 Cleveland County, the largest single contributor is Tornado, 31% of the life-safety total.

Cleveland County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $20.9M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 100 North Carolina counties. Nationally, Cleveland County ranks 1255th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2760th for life safety per 100k residents, 859th for property loss, and 2706th 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 Cleveland 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 Cleveland County.

Talk to us about Cleveland County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

77%
20%
Property (buildings): $20.9M (76.6%)
Life safety: $5.6M (20.3%)
Agriculture: $835K (3.1%)

Total expected annual loss: $27,288,866 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)

Tornado
$1.7M
Strong Wind
$1.0M
Cold Wave
$831K
Lightning
$710K
Earthquake
$525K
Heat Wave
$442K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$15.4M
Tornado
$2.0M
Earthquake
$1.4M
Ice Storm
$1.1M
Hurricane
$605K
Hail
$195K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Cleveland 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

13%
80%
Career: 13% (2)
Combination: 7% (1)
Volunteer: 80% (12)
Residents per Station
2,805
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
35.6
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 15 departments registered in NERIS Public for Cleveland County, NC. 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 Cleveland 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 15 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Cleveland County Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 45,913 $3.0M Relatively Moderate 4
Shelby Fire & Rescue Department 31,620 $1.7M Relatively Moderate 3
Kings Mountain Fire Department 12,688 $642.9K Relatively Moderate 2
Polkville Volunteer Fire Department 6,432 $463.8K Relatively High 2
Number Three Volunteer Fire Department 7,151 $416.4K Relatively Low 2
Bethlehem Volunteer Fire Department 7,654 $391.1K Relatively Low 2
Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 7,018 $349.7K Relatively Moderate 1
Waco Community Fire Department 6,068 $336.1K Relatively Moderate 1
Number Seven Volunteer Fire Department 4,978 $305.3K Relatively High 4
Fallston Community Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 4,675 $239.3K Relatively High 3
Boiling Springs Rural Volunteer Fire Department 3,653 $205.6K Relatively Moderate 4
Shanghai Volunteer Fire Department 3,275 $171.5K Relatively Low 2
Casar Volunteer Fire Department 3,270 $159.9K Relatively Moderate 0
Grover Rural Volunteer Fire Department 2,653 $119.1K Very Low 3
Lawndale Volunteer Fire Department 1,120 $58.0K Relatively High 3
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

16.6%
Poverty Rate
18.8%
Age 65+
16.8%
Disability Rate
9.3%
Uninsured
51.1%
Pre-1980 Housing
18.2%
Mobile Homes
12.3%
Vacancy Rate
1.2%
Wood Heat
$60,555
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

10
Last 10 Years
13
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