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Risk & Response

Rowan County, NC

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 59.5 Relatively Moderate

149,875
Population
23
Departments
46
Stations
31
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
1.17
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
13th highest of 100
Life Safety per 100k
0.78
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
38th highest of 100
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$31.1M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
29th highest of 100
Property Loss per Resident
$207
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
83rd 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 Rowan County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 66% of the life-safety total.

Rowan County carries an expected 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $31.1M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 100 North Carolina counties. Nationally, Rowan County ranks 499th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2110th for life safety per 100k residents, 574th for property loss, and 2704th 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 Rowan 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 Rowan County.

Talk to us about Rowan County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

65%
33%
Property (buildings): $31.1M (64.6%)
Life safety: $16.1M (33.5%)
Agriculture: $903K (1.9%)

Total expected annual loss: $48,047,587 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
$10.6M
Tornado
$2.4M
Strong Wind
$859K
Earthquake
$614K
Ice Storm
$538K
Lightning
$473K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$24.7M
Tornado
$2.9M
Earthquake
$1.5M
Ice Storm
$1.0M
Hurricane
$493K
Hail
$191K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Rowan 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%
48%
26%
17%
Career: 9% (2)
Combination: 48% (11)
Volunteer: 26% (6)
Unreported: 17% (4)
Residents per Station
3,258
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
30.7
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 23 departments registered in NERIS Public for Rowan 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 Rowan 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 ▲
Salisbury Fire Department 39,441 $4.0M Relatively High 7
Kannapolis Fire Department 64,480 $3.4M Relatively Moderate 7
Cleveland Community Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 33,861 $2.7M Relatively Low 2
Locke Township Fire Department, Incorporated 13,406 $1.4M Relatively Moderate 3
Rockwell Rural Fire Department, Inc. 12,039 $1.3M Relatively High 1
Bostian Heights Fire Department, Inc. 10,618 $1.2M Relatively High 1
Atwell Township Fire Department, Incorporated 7,017 $802.3K Relatively High 2
Landis Fire Department 4,501 $515.2K Relatively Moderate 2
Enochville Fire and Rescue Department, Inc. 4,833 $500.9K Relatively Low 1
Union Volunteer Fire Department 4,438 $483.5K Relatively High 1
South Salisbury Township Fire Department, Incorporated 3,307 $383.8K Relatively High 1
Spencer Fire Department 3,813 $363.9K Relatively Moderate 1
West Rowan Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 3,295 $336.9K Relatively Moderate 4
Granite Quarry Fire Department 3,471 $323.5K Relatively High 1
Rockwell City Fire Department 2,400 $262.1K Relatively High 1
Ellis Cross Country Fire Department 2,610 $258.1K Very High 1
Miller's Ferry Road Fire Department, Incorporated 2,434 $248.8K Relatively High 2
Woodleaf Volunteer Fire Department 1,900 $227.0K Relatively Moderate 1
Richfield-Misenheimer Fire Department 3,551 $184.3K Relatively High 2
East Spencer Fire Department Station 47 1,639 $178.5K Relatively Moderate 1
Scotch Irish Fire Department 1,782 $162.6K Relatively Moderate 1
Pooletown Volunteer Fire Department 1,152 $111.0K Relatively Moderate 1
Town Of Faith Fire Department 931 $88.6K Relatively High 2
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

16.0%
Poverty Rate
17.7%
Age 65+
15.4%
Disability Rate
9.3%
Uninsured
46.7%
Pre-1980 Housing
15.4%
Mobile Homes
9.4%
Vacancy Rate
1.7%
Wood Heat
$67,499
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

12
Last 10 Years
14
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.

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