Arborlook
Risk & Response
by Arborlook Insights

Wisconsin

Statewide risk profile

5.9M
Population
72
Counties
715
Departments
1,170
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
83.8
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
10th highest of 52
Life Safety per 100k
1.42
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
15th highest of 52
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$1.4B
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
26th highest of 52
Property Loss per Resident
$238
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
40th 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 Wisconsin, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 70% of the life-safety total.

Wisconsin carries an expected 84 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $1.4B 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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin See what a department sees

What Drives the Loss

54%
44%
Property (buildings): $1.4B (54.4%)
Life safety: $1.1B (44.3%)
Agriculture: $32.3M (1.2%)

Total expected annual loss: $2,588,280,027 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
$802.0M
Tornado
$156.0M
Heat Wave
$88.5M
Strong Wind
$40.1M
Lightning
$31.1M
Hail
$9.5M

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$1.1B
Tornado
$151.2M
Hail
$117.0M
Strong Wind
$26.6M
Earthquake
$5.8M
Lightning
$5.8M

County Risk Map

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

Fire Service Profile

14%
73%
Career: 7%
Combination: 14%
Volunteer: 73%
Unreported: 7%
Residents per Station
5,055
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
19.8
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 715 departments registered in NERIS Public for Wisconsin. Departments that have not registered are not counted. The mix is computed over the departments NERIS registers to Wisconsin; 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 Wisconsin 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 72 counties
County Population Departments Life-Safety Loss NRI Rating
Milwaukee County 926,331 16 $227.1M Relatively Moderate
Dane County 572,674 33 $69.9M Relatively Moderate
Waukesha County 411,762 22 $52.2M Relatively Low
Kenosha County 168,438 10 $36.0M Relatively Moderate
Brown County 270,892 19 $35.2M Relatively Moderate
Marathon County 138,403 23 $32.4M Relatively High
La Crosse County 120,488 12 $27.8M Relatively High
Racine County 197,532 13 $27.0M Relatively Moderate
Outagamie County 192,826 23 $26.7M Relatively Low
Marinette County 42,046 15 $25.2M Very High
Winnebago County 171,769 15 $24.9M Relatively Moderate
Rock County 164,350 14 $23.6M Relatively Moderate
Washington County 137,879 15 $20.9M Relatively Moderate
Eau Claire County 107,116 13 $18.1M Relatively High
Fond du Lac County 104,137 18 $16.9M Relatively High
Sawyer County 18,476 11 $16.1M Very High
Florence County 4,646 4 $15.9M Very High
Wood County 74,004 17 $14.9M Relatively High
Walworth County 105,657 16 $14.3M Relatively Moderate
Vernon County 31,049 15 $14.1M Very High
Barron County 46,797 11 $14.1M Relatively High
Douglas County 44,229 19 $14.1M Relatively High
Portage County 70,832 14 $13.4M Relatively High
Dodge County 88,742 23 $13.1M Relatively Moderate
Monroe County 46,208 13 $12.9M Very High
Shawano County 41,039 16 $12.9M Relatively High
Oneida County 38,167 22 $12.7M Relatively Moderate
Ozaukee County 92,966 10 $12.6M Relatively Moderate
Sheboygan County 117,991 26 $12.3M Relatively Moderate
Jefferson County 86,003 13 $12.2M Relatively High
Manitowoc County 81,406 24 $11.7M Relatively Moderate
St. Croix County 96,033 10 $11.6M Relatively Moderate
Chippewa County 66,799 15 $11.3M Relatively High
Polk County 45,555 18 $10.9M Relatively High
Juneau County 26,689 15 $10.7M Very High
Vilas County 23,647 14 $10.4M Very High
Waupaca County 51,569 13 $10.4M Relatively High
Sauk County 66,009 17 $10.2M Relatively Moderate
Columbia County 58,272 17 $9.7M Very High
Forest County 9,369 9 $9.4M Very High
Langlade County 19,490 9 $9.3M Relatively High
Lincoln County 28,426 6 $9.2M Relatively High
Dunn County 45,527 9 $8.6M Relatively High
Oconto County 39,589 24 $7.6M Relatively High
Clark County 34,739 12 $7.5M Very High
Calumet County 52,942 12 $7.4M Relatively Moderate
Green County 37,017 12 $7.2M Relatively High
Grant County 51,770 23 $7.1M Relatively High
Adams County 21,123 12 $7.0M Very High
Marquette County 15,746 10 $6.5M Very High
Lafayette County 16,942 10 $6.0M Relatively High
Trempealeau County 30,839 13 $6.0M Relatively High
Washburn County 16,854 7 $5.9M Relatively High
Door County 30,445 9 $5.9M Relatively High
Bayfield County 16,575 15 $5.8M Relatively High
Ashland County 16,080 6 $5.6M Relatively Moderate
Jackson County 20,981 13 $5.3M Very High
Taylor County 20,024 14 $5.0M Relatively High
Pierce County 42,584 10 $5.0M Relatively High
Waushara County 24,868 10 $4.9M Relatively High
Rusk County 14,179 8 $4.8M Relatively High
Price County 14,092 13 $4.6M Relatively High
Burnett County 16,916 11 $4.5M Relatively High
Crawford County 16,042 4 $4.1M Relatively High
Richland County 17,205 8 $4.1M Very High
Green Lake County 19,263 4 $4.0M Very High
Iowa County 23,867 11 $3.3M Relatively Moderate
Kewaunee County 20,664 7 $2.6M Relatively Moderate
Buffalo County 13,393 6 $2.3M Relatively Moderate
Menominee County 4,252 2 $2.1M Relatively Moderate
Iron County 6,210 8 $2.0M Relatively Moderate
Pepin County 7,431 4 $1.0M 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

10.6%
Poverty Rate
18.5%
Age 65+
12.3%
Disability Rate
5.2%
Uninsured
57.0%
Pre-1980 Housing
3.1%
Mobile Homes
10.8%
Vacancy Rate
2.7%
Wood Heat
$81,853
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

239
Last 10 Years
518
Last 25 Years
Severe Storm
Most Frequent

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