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Risk & Response

Gaston County, NC

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 21.6 Relatively Low

234,881
Population
23
Departments
53
Stations
85
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
0.96
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
18th highest of 100
Life Safety per 100k
0.41
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
77th highest of 100
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$46.0M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
21st highest of 100
Property Loss per Resident
$196
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
90th 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 Gaston County, the largest single contributor is Tornado, 30% of the life-safety total.

Gaston County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $46.0M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 100 North Carolina counties. Nationally, Gaston County ranks 609th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2746th for life safety per 100k residents, 415th for property loss, and 2806th 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 Gaston 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 Gaston County.

Talk to us about Gaston County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

78%
22%
Property (buildings): $46.0M (77.5%)
Life safety: $13.1M (22.1%)
Agriculture: $181K (0.3%)

Total expected annual loss: $59,266,081 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
$4.0M
Strong Wind
$3.2M
Cold Wave
$1.5M
Lightning
$1.3M
Heat Wave
$915K
Earthquake
$845K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$35.5M
Tornado
$4.4M
Earthquake
$2.4M
Ice Storm
$2.4M
Hurricane
$582K
Hail
$395K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Gaston 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

9%
35%
57%
Career: 9% (2)
Combination: 35% (8)
Volunteer: 57% (13)
Residents per Station
4,432
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
22.6
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 23 departments registered in NERIS Public for Gaston 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 Gaston 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 23 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Gastonia Fire Department 90,302 $5.3M Relatively Low 16
Tryonota Volunteer Fire Department 30,478 $4.2M Relatively Moderate 2
Agriculture Center Volunteer Fire Department 24,627 $1.3M Relatively Low 2
Kings Mountain Fire Department 21,405 $1.1M Relatively Low 2
Crowders Mountain Volunteer Fire/ Rescue 20,616 $1.1M Very Low 2
Alexis Volunteer Fire Department 19,187 $928.1K Relatively Low 4
City Of Belmont Fire Department 16,449 $897.1K Relatively Low 2
Mount Holly Fire Department 14,304 $836.0K Relatively Low 3
Spencer Mountain Road Volunteer Fire Department 14,427 $780.1K Very Low 1
Crouse Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 16,380 $775.7K Relatively Moderate 1
East Gaston Volunteer Fire Department 10,653 $583.5K Very Low 0
Union Road Volunteer Fire Department 9,180 $469.8K Very Low 1
Lucia Riverbend Volunteer Fire Department 8,690 $447.4K Relatively Low 1
New Hope Fire Department, Inc. 8,629 $419.5K Relatively Low 2
Stanley Volunteer Fire Department 7,631 $355.7K Very Low 2
Southpoint Volunteer Fire Department 6,962 $353.4K Relatively Low 1
Cramerton Fire Department 5,829 $349.2K Very Low 3
Community Volunteer Fire Department 6,161 $330.8K Very Low 1
Town Of Dallas Volunteer Fire Department 4,969 $328.9K Relatively Low 1
Cherryville Fire Department 6,229 $280.6K Very Low 2
Hugh's Pond Volunteer Fire Department 5,561 $245.5K Very Low 1
Lowell Volunteer Fire Department 4,034 $216.0K Very Low 1
Ranlo Fire And Rescue 3,716 $202.2K Very Low 2
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

13.5%
Poverty Rate
16.5%
Age 65+
14.5%
Disability Rate
10.7%
Uninsured
47.3%
Pre-1980 Housing
8.6%
Mobile Homes
8.0%
Vacancy Rate
0.6%
Wood Heat
$71,995
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