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Risk & Response

Madison County, NC

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 51.6 Relatively Moderate

21,867
Population
9
Departments
14
Stations
7
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
0.19
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
69th highest of 100
Life Safety per 100k
0.87
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
33rd highest of 100
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$6.0M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
89th highest of 100
Property Loss per Resident
$277
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
54th 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 Madison County, the largest single contributor is Inland Flooding, 32% of the life-safety total.

Madison County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $6.0M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 100 North Carolina counties. Nationally, Madison County ranks 2024th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1958th for life safety per 100k residents, 2056th for property loss, and 2041st 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 Madison 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 Madison County.

Talk to us about Madison County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

66%
28%
Property (buildings): $6.0M (66.2%)
Life safety: $2.6M (28.4%)
Agriculture: $486K (5.3%)

Total expected annual loss: $9,129,836 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.

Agriculture is 5% of expected annual loss in Madison County, so total loss overstates property loss here. The property figure above counts building loss only.

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)

Inland Flooding
$824K
Cold Wave
$739K
Lightning
$489K
Strong Wind
$207K
Tornado
$133K
Landslide
$94K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$5.2M
Tornado
$241K
Earthquake
$201K
Ice Storm
$147K
Wildfire
$75K
Landslide
$61K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Madison 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

56%
44%
Combination: 56% (5)
Volunteer: 44% (4)
Residents per Station
1,562
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
64.0
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 9 departments registered in NERIS Public for Madison 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 Madison 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 9 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Leicester Volunteer Fire Department 21,576 $2.2M Relatively Moderate 3
Jupiter Volunteer Fire Department 19,054 $1.7M Relatively Moderate 2
Mars Hill Fire Department 15,210 $1.6M Relatively Moderate 2
Marshall Community Volunteer Fire Department Inc. 8,661 $1.2M Relatively Moderate 1
Ebbs Chapel Fire Department 8,883 $1.1M Relatively Low 1
Spring Creek Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 6,544 $899.3K Relatively High 2
Big Pine Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 4,232 $517.2K Relatively Moderate 1
Country Volunteer Fire Department 2,270 $315.5K Relatively High 1
Hot Springs Volunteer Fire Department 2,270 $315.5K Relatively High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

12.1%
Poverty Rate
23.2%
Age 65+
18.1%
Disability Rate
8.4%
Uninsured
39.3%
Pre-1980 Housing
21.4%
Mobile Homes
26.5%
Vacancy Rate
13.0%
Wood Heat
$59,265
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

12
Last 10 Years
17
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