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Arborlook Insights
Risk & Response

Pickens County, SC

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 38.0 Relatively Low

134,629
Population
12
Departments
22
Stations
37
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
0.54
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
22nd highest of 46
Life Safety per 100k
0.40
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
44th highest of 46
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$28.0M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
19th highest of 46
Property Loss per Resident
$208
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
40th 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 Pickens County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 39% of the life-safety total.

Pickens County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $28.0M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 46 South Carolina counties. Nationally, Pickens County ranks 999th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 2753rd for life safety per 100k residents, 638th for property loss, and 2697th 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 Pickens 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 Pickens County.

Talk to us about Pickens County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

76%
20%
Property (buildings): $28.0M (75.7%)
Life safety: $7.5M (20.1%)
Agriculture: $1.6M (4.2%)

Total expected annual loss: $37,051,078 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
$2.9M
Strong Wind
$1.2M
Lightning
$924K
Tornado
$854K
Heat Wave
$587K
Inland Flooding
$386K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$23.1M
Earthquake
$1.9M
Ice Storm
$1.2M
Tornado
$603K
Hurricane
$579K
Hail
$389K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Pickens 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

8%
58%
33%
Career: 8% (1)
Combination: 58% (7)
Volunteer: 33% (4)
Residents per Station
6,120
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
16.3
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 12 departments registered in NERIS Public for Pickens 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 Pickens 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 12 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Clemson University Fire & EMS 36,839 $2.8M Relatively Moderate 4
City Of Easley Fire Department 44,204 $2.3M Relatively Low 7
Duncan Chapel Fire District 24,213 $1.7M Relatively Moderate 3
Pickens Fire Department 22,740 $1.5M Relatively Low 1
Six Mile Volunteer Fire Department 19,008 $1.1M Relatively Low 1
Liberty Area Fire District 21,646 $1.1M Relatively Low 1
Holly Springs Fire Department 8,939 $661.3K Relatively Moderate 1
Pumpkintown Fire Department 9,008 $628.7K Relatively Moderate 1
Shady Grove Fire District 8,223 $621.0K Relatively Moderate 0
Dacusville Volunteer Fire Department 6,572 $398.1K Relatively Moderate 1
Norris Fire Department 6,168 $281.0K Relatively Low 1
Vineyards Fire Department 3,432 $276.4K Relatively High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

17.2%
Poverty Rate
17.3%
Age 65+
15.4%
Disability Rate
8.6%
Uninsured
34.7%
Pre-1980 Housing
16.2%
Mobile Homes
10.7%
Vacancy Rate
1.1%
Wood Heat
$61,146
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

20
Last 10 Years
25
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