Arborlook
Arborlook Insights
Risk & Response

Kearney County, NE

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 81.1 Very High

6,713
Population
6
Departments
10
Stations
2
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
0.08
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
47th highest of 93
Life Safety per 100k
1.25
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
54th highest of 93
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$4.0M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
41st highest of 93
Property Loss per Resident
$600
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
42nd highest of 93

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 Kearney County, the largest single contributor is Tornado, 38% of the life-safety total.

Kearney County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $4.0M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 93 Nebraska counties. Nationally, Kearney County ranks 2736th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1324th for life safety per 100k residents, 2453rd for property loss, and 593rd 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 Kearney 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 Kearney County.

Talk to us about Kearney County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

28%
8%
64%
Property (buildings): $4.0M (28.4%)
Life safety: $1.2M (8.1%)
Agriculture: $9.0M (63.5%)

Total expected annual loss: $14,203,611 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 64% of expected annual loss in Kearney 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)

Tornado
$435K
Lightning
$324K
Strong Wind
$113K
Heat Wave
$98K
Winter Weather
$84K
Hail
$45K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$1.4M
Hail
$1.2M
Strong Wind
$641K
Tornado
$526K
Ice Storm
$157K
Winter Weather
$53K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Kearney 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

17%
83%
Combination: 17% (1)
Volunteer: 83% (5)
Residents per Station
671
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
149.0
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 6 departments registered in NERIS Public for Kearney County, NE. 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 Kearney 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 6 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Kearney Volunteer Fire Department 50,144 $4.2M Relatively High 4
Wilcox Volunteer Fire Department 10,580 $2.2M Very High 2
Kenesaw Volunteer Fire Department 10,520 $1.6M Very High 1
Minden Fire Department 6,713 $1.2M Very High 1
Gibbon Volunteer Fire & Rescue 8,403 $990.2K Very High 1
Axtell Rural Fire District #4 3,488 $601.0K Very High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

7.2%
Poverty Rate
20.5%
Age 65+
9.5%
Disability Rate
6.1%
Uninsured
78.5%
Pre-1980 Housing
5.0%
Mobile Homes
5.8%
Vacancy Rate
0.2%
Wood Heat
$79,047
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

4
Last 10 Years
12
Last 25 Years
Severe Storm
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