Arborlook
Risk & Response
by Arborlook Insights

North Dakota

Statewide risk profile

784,841
Population
53
Counties
313
Departments
353
Stations

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, separate from agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
14.4
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
41st highest of 52
Life Safety per 100k
1.83
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
8th highest of 52
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$296.6M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
47th highest of 52
Property Loss per Resident
$378
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
11th highest of 52

These figures cover natural hazards only. Structure fire, EMS, and motor vehicle incidents are not included in the National Risk Index and are not counted here, so this is not an all-cause life safety measure. For North Dakota, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 74% of the life-safety total.

North Dakota carries an expected 14 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $296.6M in building loss per year. Ranks compare all 50 states plus DC and Puerto Rico. Computed from census tract data covering every resident, independent of fire department boundaries.

Add fire mortality, cause, and loss

Natural hazard exposure is one half of the picture. The other half is what your departments run on: fire deaths and injuries, cause of ignition, dollar loss per incident. That comes from NERIS incident reporting, and it grows as departments in North Dakota enroll. Our Regional tier brings it together across your jurisdiction, with participating departments, alongside response time analytics, cross-department benchmarking, and coverage gap analysis.

Talk to us about North Dakota See what a department sees

What Drives the Loss

52%
35%
13%
Property (buildings): $296.6M (52.5%)
Life safety: $196.9M (34.8%)
Agriculture: $71.9M (12.7%)

Total expected annual loss: $565,396,543 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 13% of expected annual loss in North Dakota, 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)

Cold Wave
$145.0M
Tornado
$14.7M
Winter Weather
$13.2M
Strong Wind
$8.8M
Ice Storm
$3.7M
Hail
$3.6M

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$157.2M
Hail
$45.0M
Tornado
$31.8M
Ice Storm
$17.2M
Strong Wind
$15.7M
Wildfire
$15.1M

County Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across counties in this state. Click any county for its full profile.

Fire Service Profile

92%
Career: 2%
Combination: 5%
Volunteer: 92%
Unreported: 1%
Residents per Station
2,223
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
45.0
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 313 departments registered in NERIS Public for North Dakota. Departments that have not registered are not counted. The mix is computed over the departments NERIS registers to North Dakota; departments based elsewhere that respond into it are counted in the total above but not in the mix. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

County Rankings

Counties in North Dakota ranked by risk. Click column headers to sort. Click a county to see its departments.

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 and station counts are derived from boundaries self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. A department serving several counties is counted in each, so the Departments column adds up to more than the statewide department total. Risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 53 counties
County Population Departments Life-Safety Loss NRI Rating
Burleigh County 100,600 10 $28.4M Very High
Ward County 68,973 18 $21.3M Relatively High
Cass County 193,400 25 $15.4M Relatively Moderate
Williams County 39,555 9 $12.4M Relatively High
Sioux County 3,740 3 $10.7M Very High
Morton County 33,777 8 $9.1M Very High
Stark County 33,302 14 $8.1M Relatively Moderate
McLean County 9,823 14 $6.5M Very High
Stutsman County 21,549 14 $6.4M Relatively High
McKenzie County 14,321 11 $6.3M Relatively High
McIntosh County 2,497 5 $5.1M Very High
Rolette County 11,924 9 $4.0M Very High
Grand Forks County 72,923 12 $3.9M Relatively Low
Richland County 16,584 19 $3.9M Relatively High
Golden Valley County 1,653 5 $3.8M Very High
Barnes County 10,773 16 $3.6M Very High
Emmons County 3,254 7 $3.4M Very High
Mountrail County 9,507 8 $3.2M Very High
Mercer County 8,337 10 $3.0M Relatively High
Ramsey County 11,556 9 $2.5M Relatively High
Grant County 2,269 9 $2.4M Very High
Dickey County 4,935 7 $2.4M Relatively High
LaMoure County 4,118 8 $2.4M Very High
Bottineau County 6,378 14 $2.2M Relatively High
Ransom County 5,643 7 $1.9M Relatively High
Benson County 5,808 10 $1.8M Relatively High
McHenry County 5,207 12 $1.8M Very High
Logan County 1,819 6 $1.6M Very High
Pierce County 3,928 7 $1.5M Relatively High
Wells County 3,890 9 $1.5M Relatively High
Bowman County 2,906 6 $1.4M Relatively Moderate
Sargent County 3,804 9 $1.3M Very High
Dunn County 4,040 9 $1.1M Very High
Kidder County 2,377 8 $1.1M Very High
Foster County 3,358 5 $1.1M Very High
Hettinger County 2,432 5 $1.0M Relatively High
Adams County 2,145 4 $1.0M Very High
Walsh County 10,396 15 $836.3K Relatively Moderate
Towner County 2,079 8 $703.5K Relatively High
Renville County 2,304 9 $700.0K Relatively High
Burke County 2,156 4 $682.5K Relatively High
Sheridan County 1,303 8 $662.4K Very High
Divide County 2,167 7 $630.9K Very High
Eddy County 2,307 6 $622.7K Very High
Traill County 7,970 14 $588.5K Relatively Moderate
Slope County 766 7 $525.0K Relatively Moderate
Pembina County 6,727 12 $524.0K Relatively High
Griggs County 2,245 8 $498.8K Very High
Oliver County 1,839 8 $491.8K Relatively High
Billings County 1,024 3 $377.9K Relatively High
Cavalier County 3,633 11 $306.6K Relatively High
Nelson County 3,016 5 $272.0K Very High
Steele County 1,804 9 $170.0K Very High
No counties match your search.
Don't see your department? Profiles exist for every department in NERIS Public with a published boundary polygon. Departments registered without a boundary, or not yet registered with NERIS, do not have a page yet because the analysis is geography-based. See why a department might be missing or contact us and we will look into it.

Risk Snapshot

10.8%
Poverty Rate
16.5%
Age 65+
12.0%
Disability Rate
6.5%
Uninsured
47.8%
Pre-1980 Housing
6.6%
Mobile Homes
12.3%
Vacancy Rate
0.3%
Wood Heat
$80,612
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

299
Last 10 Years
764
Last 25 Years
Flood
Most Frequent

Response-level intelligence for your region

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