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Risk & Response

Forsyth County, NC

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 39.9 Relatively Low

389,977
Population
20
Departments
77
Stations
95
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
1.20
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
11th highest of 100
Life Safety per 100k
0.31
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
95th highest of 100
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$87.4M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
9th highest of 100
Property Loss per Resident
$224
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
77th 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 Forsyth County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 45% of the life-safety total.

Forsyth County carries an expected 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $87.4M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 100 North Carolina counties. Nationally, Forsyth County ranks 486th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2980th for life safety per 100k residents, 252nd for property loss, and 2563rd 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 Forsyth 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 Forsyth County.

Talk to us about Forsyth County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

84%
16%
Property (buildings): $87.4M (83.9%)
Life safety: $16.5M (15.8%)
Agriculture: $284K (0.3%)

Total expected annual loss: $104,148,028 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
$7.4M
Tornado
$2.1M
Heat Wave
$1.5M
Strong Wind
$1.4M
Earthquake
$1.1M
Lightning
$844K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$71.5M
Tornado
$5.6M
Hurricane
$4.3M
Earthquake
$2.8M
Ice Storm
$2.2M
Hail
$632K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Forsyth 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

20%
60%
20%
Career: 20% (4)
Combination: 60% (12)
Volunteer: 20% (4)
Residents per Station
5,065
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
19.7
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 20 departments registered in NERIS Public for Forsyth 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 Forsyth 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 20 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Winston Salem Fire Department 257,940 $10.9M Relatively Low 23
Forsyth County Fire Department 117,835 $4.6M Relatively Low 2
High Point Fire Department 122,327 $3.8M Relatively Low 14
Clemmons Fire Department, Inc. 28,408 $1.2M Relatively Moderate 2
Kernersville Fire Rescue Department 28,449 $1.1M Relatively Moderate 5
Midway Fire & Rescue Department, Inc 13,773 $816.8K Relatively Moderate 2
Lewisville Fire Department 17,332 $694.4K Relatively Moderate 3
Walkertown Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 16,072 $611.2K Relatively Low 2
Fire Department - City Of King 15,379 $487.5K Relatively Low 1
Griffith Volunteer Fire Department 8,099 $410.0K Relatively High 2
Rural Hall Fire Department 10,714 $367.1K Relatively Low 2
Vienna Volunteer Fire Department Inc 9,809 $360.1K Relatively Low 3
Piney Grove Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department, Inc. 6,868 $269.7K Relatively Moderate 3
Horneytown Fire Department 4,800 $222.9K Relatively Low 2
Old Richmond Volunteer Fire Department And Rescue Squad, Inc. 5,526 $204.8K Relatively Moderate 2
Beeson Crossroads Volunteer Fire & Rescue, Inc. 5,489 $203.9K Relatively Moderate 2
Union Cross Fire Rescue 4,147 $151.0K Relatively Low 2
Mineral Springs Volunteer Fire & Rescue, Inc. 3,869 $140.5K Relatively Low 2
Belews Creek Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department, Inc. 3,502 $123.7K Relatively Low 1
Salem Chapel Volunteer Fire Department 765 $29.1K Very Low 2
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

14.5%
Poverty Rate
17.0%
Age 65+
12.7%
Disability Rate
9.8%
Uninsured
43.9%
Pre-1980 Housing
3.3%
Mobile Homes
8.9%
Vacancy Rate
0.4%
Wood Heat
$73,097
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

12
Last 10 Years
16
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