Safest Counties from Natural Disasters

Not every county faces significant natural disaster risk. While headlines focus on hurricanes, wildfires, and floods, many counties in America experience minimal exposure to all major hazard types. For families prioritizing safety and stability, these low-risk counties offer peace of mind.

Using FEMA National Risk Index data, we identified the 25 counties with the lowest composite risk scores — places where natural disasters are rare events rather than recurring threats.

The 25 Safest Counties from Natural Disasters

Loving County, Texas has the lowest composite risk score in the nation at 0.0318. These counties face minimal exposure to floods, wildfires, tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes:

Where the Safest Counties Are Located

The safest counties cluster in the northern Great Plains, parts of New England, and the upper Midwest. Nebraska (10 counties), Texas (4 counties), Georgia (3 counties), Alaska (2 counties), Hawaii (1 counties) are most represented. These regions are far from hurricane coasts, outside Tornado Alley, on stable geology with low earthquake risk, and in climates with limited wildfire potential.

Methodology

Composite risk scores come from the FEMA National Risk Index (2020). Counties are ranked by composite risk score in ascending order to identify the lowest-risk counties. Individual hazard scores are percentile ranks on a 0-100 scale.