Arborlook
Risk & Response
by Arborlook Insights

Tennessee

Statewide risk profile

7.1M
Population
95
Counties
637
Departments
1,803
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
85.8
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
9th highest of 52
Life Safety per 100k
1.21
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
18th highest of 52
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$1.8B
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
18th highest of 52
Property Loss per Resident
$256
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
39th 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 Tennessee, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 30% of the life-safety total.

Tennessee carries an expected 86 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $1.8B 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 Tennessee 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 Tennessee See what a department sees

What Drives the Loss

60%
39%
Property (buildings): $1.8B (60.2%)
Life safety: $1.2B (39.1%)
Agriculture: $20.1M (0.7%)

Total expected annual loss: $3,004,305,920 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
$351.5M
Earthquake
$318.6M
Tornado
$250.6M
Heat Wave
$94.8M
Strong Wind
$60.1M
Inland Flooding
$42.9M

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$1.1B
Earthquake
$427.1M
Tornado
$172.5M
Strong Wind
$22.1M
Hail
$16.0M
Ice Storm
$14.3M

County Risk Map

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

Fire Service Profile

9%
17%
71%
Career: 9%
Combination: 17%
Volunteer: 71%
Unreported: 3%
Residents per Station
3,919
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
25.5
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 637 departments registered in NERIS Public for Tennessee. Departments that have not registered are not counted. The mix is computed over the departments NERIS registers to Tennessee; 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 Tennessee 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 95 counties
County Population Departments Life-Safety Loss NRI Rating
Shelby County 919,173 11 $239.3M Relatively High
Davidson County 715,388 3 $60.6M Relatively Moderate
Madison County 99,295 12 $52.2M Very High
Rutherford County 360,646 11 $47.6M Relatively High
Hamilton County 376,192 20 $40.0M Relatively Moderate
Knox County 494,148 5 $39.4M Relatively Low
Sumner County 204,424 19 $31.2M Relatively High
Montgomery County 234,153 7 $31.1M Relatively High
Henry County 32,412 13 $27.8M Very High
Gibson County 50,869 11 $27.3M Very High
Williamson County 260,351 12 $26.9M Relatively Moderate
Maury County 107,791 11 $24.5M Relatively High
Dyer County 36,508 12 $24.3M Very High
Weakley County 33,016 15 $20.8M Very High
Tipton County 61,553 13 $19.7M Very High
Obion County 30,453 9 $19.2M Very High
Wilson County 158,805 10 $18.5M Relatively High
Carroll County 28,641 13 $16.0M Very High
Fayette County 43,267 10 $14.8M Very High
Bradley County 111,065 5 $12.9M Relatively Moderate
Lawrence County 45,385 18 $12.7M Relatively High
Henderson County 27,980 5 $11.9M Very High
Hardin County 27,249 7 $11.4M Very High
Lauderdale County 24,784 13 $11.2M Relatively High
Putnam County 82,558 11 $9.9M Relatively Moderate
Bedford County 52,237 9 $9.5M Very High
Robertson County 75,539 13 $9.2M Relatively Moderate
Anderson County 79,153 15 $9.1M Relatively Moderate
Blount County 139,333 12 $8.9M Relatively Moderate
Marshall County 36,049 11 $8.9M Very High
Giles County 30,620 11 $8.8M Relatively High
Coffee County 59,710 14 $8.8M Relatively Moderate
Haywood County 17,475 7 $8.6M Very High
Cumberland County 63,553 6 $8.5M Relatively Moderate
Hardeman County 25,433 12 $8.4M Very High
Roane County 55,208 14 $8.4M Relatively High
Dickson County 55,983 15 $8.0M Relatively High
McNairy County 25,970 12 $8.0M Relatively High
Franklin County 43,990 19 $7.4M Relatively High
Warren County 42,166 10 $7.3M Relatively High
Marion County 29,250 22 $7.2M Very High
Chester County 17,611 8 $7.0M Relatively High
Crockett County 13,944 9 $6.8M Very High
Sequatchie County 16,809 8 $6.7M Very High
Lincoln County 35,946 8 $6.5M Relatively High
Cheatham County 41,829 7 $6.4M Relatively High
Washington County 136,261 13 $5.8M Relatively Low
Sevier County 99,652 17 $5.8M Relatively Moderate
Loudon County 58,580 9 $5.6M Relatively Moderate
McMinn County 54,884 14 $5.6M Relatively Moderate
Humphreys County 19,214 11 $5.6M Very High
Hickman County 25,436 4 $5.4M Relatively High
Lake County 6,579 5 $5.2M Very High
Benton County 16,006 10 $5.1M Relatively High
Carter County 56,712 12 $5.0M Relatively Moderate
Sullivan County 160,624 14 $4.8M Relatively Low
Wayne County 16,168 9 $4.4M Very High
Campbell County 39,761 11 $4.1M Relatively Moderate
Monroe County 47,695 20 $4.0M Relatively Moderate
Decatur County 11,579 5 $4.0M Relatively High
Greene County 71,628 19 $4.0M Relatively Low
White County 28,160 11 $3.9M Relatively High
Hawkins County 57,964 20 $3.9M Relatively Moderate
Macon County 26,240 5 $3.9M Relatively High
Rhea County 33,992 9 $3.7M Relatively High
Claiborne County 32,466 13 $3.6M Relatively Moderate
Fentress County 19,309 4 $3.4M Relatively High
Grundy County 13,819 10 $3.2M Relatively High
Stewart County 14,027 6 $3.2M Relatively High
Smith County 20,389 8 $3.2M Relatively High
Hamblen County 65,669 8 $3.2M Relatively Moderate
Overton County 23,065 15 $3.1M Relatively Low
Jefferson County 56,864 16 $3.0M Relatively Moderate
Lewis County 12,992 3 $2.9M Very High
Scott County 22,113 9 $2.8M Relatively Moderate
Morgan County 21,361 12 $2.8M Relatively Moderate
Bledsoe County 15,032 17 $2.6M Relatively High
Houston County 8,353 4 $2.6M Relatively High
Perry County 8,697 8 $2.5M Very High
Cocke County 36,813 15 $2.4M Relatively High
DeKalb County 20,959 8 $2.4M Relatively High
Cannon County 14,818 8 $2.4M Relatively High
Polk County 17,898 1 $1.8M Relatively Moderate
Trousdale County 11,957 3 $1.8M Relatively High
Johnson County 18,196 12 $1.5M Relatively High
Union County 20,431 7 $1.5M Relatively Moderate
Grainger County 24,266 8 $1.4M Relatively Moderate
Jackson County 12,029 10 $1.4M Relatively High
Meigs County 13,343 9 $1.4M Relatively High
Moore County 6,674 5 $1.3M Relatively High
Unicoi County 17,756 10 $1.2M Relatively Moderate
Van Buren County 6,437 4 $1.1M Relatively Moderate
Clay County 7,670 8 $1.1M Relatively High
Pickett County 5,079 6 $801.9K Relatively Moderate
Hancock County 6,852 8 $546.8K Relatively 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

13.8%
Poverty Rate
17.1%
Age 65+
14.9%
Disability Rate
10.0%
Uninsured
40.8%
Pre-1980 Housing
8.1%
Mobile Homes
10.2%
Vacancy Rate
1.1%
Wood Heat
$76,064
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

831
Last 10 Years
1423
Last 25 Years
Severe Storm
Most Frequent

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