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Risk & Response

Cape May County, NJ

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 73.1 Relatively High

94,941
Population
26
Departments
42
Stations
33
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
0.61
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
20th highest of 21
Life Safety per 100k
0.64
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
4th highest of 21
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$91.0M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
15th highest of 21
Property Loss per Resident
$958
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
1st highest of 21

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 Cape May County, the largest single contributor is Heat Wave, 48% of the life-safety total.

Cape May County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $91.0M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 21 New Jersey counties. Nationally, Cape May County ranks 924th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2319th for life safety per 100k residents, 240th for property loss, and 145th 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 Cape May 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 Cape May County.

Talk to us about Cape May County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

91%
8%
Property (buildings): $91.0M (91.3%)
Life safety: $8.3M (8.4%)
Agriculture: $377K (0.4%)

Total expected annual loss: $99,653,769 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)

Heat Wave
$4.0M
Inland Flooding
$1.6M
Cold Wave
$1.0M
Lightning
$489K
Tornado
$277K
Winter Weather
$213K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$37.3M
Coastal Flooding
$30.5M
Hurricane
$13.9M
Strong Wind
$6.7M
Earthquake
$902K
Wildfire
$786K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Cape May 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

19%
73%
Career: 19% (5)
Volunteer: 73% (19)
Unreported: 8% (2)
Residents per Station
2,260
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
44.2
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 26 departments registered in NERIS Public for Cape May County, NJ. 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 Cape May 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 26 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Ocean City Fire Department 11,061 $1.1M Very High 6
Volunteer Fire Company #1 Of Middle Township 10,297 $967.8K Very High 2
LOWER TWP FIRE DEPARTMENT - VILLAS STATION 9,402 $785.6K Relatively Moderate 2
LOWER TWP FIRE DEPARTMENT - TOWN BANK STATION 8,249 $577.3K Relatively Moderate 2
Rio Grande Fire Company - Middle Township Fire District #2 5,597 $571.3K Very High 1
WILDWOOD CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT 5,084 $544.0K Very High 1
NORTH WILDWOOD FIRE DEPARTMENT 3,505 $372.2K Very High 6
Goshen Volunteer Fire Company 3,725 $366.5K Relatively High 1
Seaville Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company 4,355 $333.3K Relatively High 1
Board Of Fire Commissioners District #3 3,988 $301.4K Relatively High 0
WILDWOOD CREST FIRE COMPANY 2,988 $275.6K Very High 1
OCEAN VIEW FIRE COMPANY 2,782 $256.9K Relatively High 2
Marmora Volunteer Fire Company 4,228 $254.6K Relatively High 1
DENNIS FIRE COMPANY 2,224 $211.4K Relatively High 1
Sea Isle City Fire Department 1,981 $208.5K Very High 2
WOODBINE FIRE DEPARTMENT 2,006 $207.3K Relatively Low 2
GREEN CREEK FIRE DEPARTMENT 1,813 $191.9K Relatively Low 1
CAPE MAY FIRE DEPARTMENT 2,712 $188.3K Very High 1
AVALON BORO FIRE DEPARTMENT 1,471 $119.8K Very High 2
Belleplain Volunteer Fire Company 1,081 $107.0K Relatively Moderate 1
Stone Harbor Volunteer Fire Company #1 872 $76.9K Very High 1
West Cape May Volunteer Fire Company, Inc. 775 $61.5K Relatively High 1
West Wildwood Volunteer Fire Company 561 $57.8K Very High 1
U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Fire Department 321 $22.3K Very High 1
CAPE MAY POINT FIRE DEPARTMENT 237 $18.8K Relatively High 1
Strathmere Volunteer Fire Department 130 $10.0K Relatively High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

8.7%
Poverty Rate
29.5%
Age 65+
15.0%
Disability Rate
5.0%
Uninsured
49.0%
Pre-1980 Housing
3.3%
Mobile Homes
54.9%
Vacancy Rate
0.5%
Wood Heat
$92,130
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

7
Last 10 Years
19
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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