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Risk & Response

Beaufort County, SC

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 95.9 Very High

195,289
Population
8
Departments
40
Stations
43
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
1.75
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
9th highest of 46
Life Safety per 100k
0.90
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
24th highest of 46
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$231.1M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
3rd highest of 46
Property Loss per Resident
$1,183
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
2nd highest of 46

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 Beaufort County, the largest single contributor is Hurricane, 32% of the life-safety total.

Beaufort County carries an expected 2 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $231.1M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 46 South Carolina counties. Nationally, Beaufort County ranks 337th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1910th for life safety per 100k residents, 73rd for property loss, and 78th 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 Beaufort 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 Beaufort County.

Talk to us about Beaufort County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

90%
9%
Property (buildings): $231.1M (90.4%)
Life safety: $24.0M (9.4%)
Agriculture: $535K (0.2%)

Total expected annual loss: $255,596,405 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)

Hurricane
$7.8M
Earthquake
$3.4M
Tornado
$2.7M
Heat Wave
$2.5M
Cold Wave
$2.4M
Lightning
$1.9M

By property loss ($/yr)

Hurricane
$192.4M
Inland Flooding
$19.5M
Coastal Flooding
$8.8M
Earthquake
$6.4M
Tornado
$1.4M
Wildfire
$1.3M

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Beaufort 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

50%
50%
Career: 50% (4)
Combination: 50% (4)
Residents per Station
4,882
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
20.5
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 8 departments registered in NERIS Public for Beaufort County, SC. 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 Beaufort 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 8 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Bluffton Township Fire District 90,472 $9.2M Very High 10
Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue 38,003 $4.7M Very High 7
Beaufort/Port Royal Fire Department 24,315 $3.2M Very High 4
Lady's Island - St. Helena Fire District 24,000 $2.9M Very High 5
Burton Fire District 20,073 $2.4M Very High 10
Sheldon Fire District 3,829 $666.3K Very High 2
Daufuskie Island Fire District 637 $65.0K Very High 1
Fripp Island Fire Department 274 $49.7K Very High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

9.6%
Poverty Rate
28.4%
Age 65+
13.4%
Disability Rate
8.5%
Uninsured
16.4%
Pre-1980 Housing
9.0%
Mobile Homes
20.2%
Vacancy Rate
0.1%
Wood Heat
$88,793
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

17
Last 10 Years
21
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