Arborlook
Risk & Response
by Arborlook Insights

Pierce County, WA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 64.5 Relatively High

930,319
Population
31
Departments
214
Stations
193
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, separate from agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
16.6
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
2nd highest of 39
Life Safety per 100k
1.78
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
13th highest of 39
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$364.6M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
2nd highest of 39
Property Loss per Resident
$392
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
24th highest of 39

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 Pierce County, the largest single contributor is Earthquake, 56% of the life-safety total.

Pierce County carries an expected 17 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $364.6M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 39 Washington counties. Nationally, Pierce County ranks 19th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 771st for life safety per 100k residents, 29th for property loss, and 1266th 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 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 serving Pierce County 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 Pierce County See what a department sees

What Drives the Loss

62%
38%
Property (buildings): $364.6M (61.6%)
Life safety: $227.3M (38.4%)
Agriculture: $18K (0.0%)

Total expected annual loss: $591,970,517 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)

Earthquake
$127.1M
Avalanche
$68.7M
Heat Wave
$13.5M
Cold Wave
$9.6M
Volcanic Activity
$3.8M
Lightning
$1.4M

By property loss ($/yr)

Earthquake
$236.7M
Inland Flooding
$121.6M
Volcanic Activity
$3.0M
Coastal Flooding
$1.4M
Strong Wind
$470K
Wildfire
$378K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Pierce 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

29%
45%
23%
Career: 29% (9)
Combination: 45% (14)
Volunteer: 23% (7)
Unreported: 3% (1)
Residents per Station
4,347
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
23.0
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 31 departments registered in NERIS Public for Pierce County, WA. 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 Pierce 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 31 departments
Department Est. Population Life-Safety Loss NRI Rating Stations
Pacific County Fire District #3 142,670 $183.3M Very High 3
Raymond Fire Department 142,670 $183.3M Very High 6
Tacoma Fire Department 234,419 $65.4M Relatively High 17
East Pierce Fire & Rescue 118,308 $62.3M Relatively High 15
Milton Fire Department 118,308 $62.3M Relatively High 1
Pierce County Fire District 8 118,308 $62.3M Relatively High 1
Black Diamond Fire Department 36,771 $36.5M Very High 0
Mountain View Fire & Rescue 36,771 $36.5M Very High 44
Valley Regional Fire Authority 94,398 $34.3M Relatively High 7
Central Pierce Fire & Rescue 219,535 $33.8M Relatively Moderate 42
Pierce County Fire District #11 219,535 $33.8M Relatively Moderate 3
South Pierce Fire & Rescue #17 28,816 $21.6M Very High 8
Mcneil Island Fire Department 105,229 $16.5M Relatively High 1
Pierce County Fire District Number 3 Dba West Pierce Fire & Rescue 105,229 $16.5M Relatively High 6
Lacey Fire District # 3 98,992 $12.8M Relatively High 6
Pierce 23 Fire & Rescue 11,278 $11.1M Very High 5
Bald Hills Fire Protection District 17 17,638 $10.0M Relatively High 4
City Of Buckley Fire Department 6,415 $9.7M Very High 2
Town Of Carbonado Fire Department 4,869 $9.5M Very High 1
Pierce County Fire Department #25 3,727 $9.1M Very High 1
Pierce County Fire District #26 3,727 $9.1M Very High 2
Yakima County Fire Protection District 14 4,424 $6.5M Very High 3
Pierce County Fire Protection District No 5 (Gig Harbor) 45,269 $4.9M Relatively High 11
Lewis County Fire District # 9 8,289 $3.1M Very High 2
S.E. Thurston Fire Authority 46,225 $3.1M Relatively High 4
Pierce County Fire Protection District #16 20,124 $2.5M Relatively High 6
Mcchord Afb Fire Department 25,225 $1.7M Relatively Low 7
Anderson Island Fire District - Pierce County District #27 6,748 $868.7K Very High 2
City Of Dupont Fire Department 8,209 $769.0K Relatively High 1
Pierce County Fire Protection District No. 14 2,764 $678.9K Very High 1
Pierce County Fire District 13 1,236 $275.6K Relatively Moderate 2
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

8.8%
Poverty Rate
14.8%
Age 65+
14.1%
Disability Rate
5.9%
Uninsured
42.2%
Pre-1980 Housing
4.5%
Mobile Homes
5.0%
Vacancy Rate
1.9%
Wood Heat
$103,387
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

5
Last 10 Years
13
Last 25 Years
Flood
Most Frequent

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