FEMA NRI 1.19.0Updated Nov 2023 · Coverage 2014–2023Methodology

Kentucky Disaster Risk

Natural disaster risk data for all 120 counties.

Avg FEMA Rating

Relatively Low

Avg Percentile

44th

Counties with Data

120

of 120 total

County risk atlas

Kentucky hazard exposure by county

A compact 2.5D surface of FEMA National Risk Index percentiles. Toggle composite, flood, wildfire, hurricane, tornado, and earthquake risk to see which counties carry the highest relative exposure without loading the full national explorer dataset.

Counties

120/120

Avg composite

44th

Risk layers

Highest Risk Counties

Jefferson County

Relatively High

98th percentile

Floyd County

Relatively Moderate

94th percentile

Fayette County

Relatively Moderate

92th percentile

McCracken County

Relatively Moderate

90th percentile

Warren County

Relatively Moderate

88th percentile

Lowest Risk Counties

Robertson County

Very Low

2th percentile

Menifee County

Very Low

6th percentile

Owsley County

Very Low

6th percentile

Lee County

Very Low

8th percentile

Edmonson County

Very Low

11th percentile

All Kentucky Counties

County	Percentile	FEMA Rating	Flood	Wildfire	Tornado	Earthquake
Jefferson County	98th	Relatively High	99.1	56.1	99.7	96.8
Floyd County	94th	Relatively Moderate	97.8	86.3	35.6	64.2
Fayette County	92th	Relatively Moderate	92.7	26.9	98.0	93.0
McCracken County	90th	Relatively Moderate	80.4	35.6	85.7	97.6
Warren County	88th	Relatively Moderate	87.3	18.5	93.1	90.7
Daviess County	88th	Relatively Moderate	88.8	17.9	88.9	95.9
Pike County	88th	Relatively Moderate	94.0	90.1	19.6	57.3
Graves County	84th	Relatively Moderate	56.8	26.7	70.6	96.9
Christian County	80th	Relatively Low	74.9	14.5	91.2	93.7
Pulaski County	79th	Relatively Low	81.6	64.2	83.0	83.6
Kenton County	77th	Relatively Low	76.2	20.9	91.7	71.4
Hardin County	76th	Relatively Low	73.7	32.8	84.2	84.6
Calloway County	75th	Relatively Low	50.7	18.6	79.3	95.4
Boyd County	75th	Relatively Low	82.2	68.4	51.3	59.5
Madison County	75th	Relatively Low	76.0	52.0	85.3	76.8
Knox County	75th	Relatively Low	71.7	84.7	61.4	70.2
Boone County	74th	Relatively Low	66.4	24.7	91.6	78.6
Perry County	73th	Relatively Low	86.3	77.9	33.9	49.6
Henderson County	73th	Relatively Low	74.9	7.1	56.5	92.9
Hopkins County	73th	Relatively Low	66.6	18.8	79.6	91.7
Bullitt County	72th	Relatively Low	74.1	26.8	88.6	70.6
Laurel County	72th	Relatively Low	64.9	89.5	83.5	77.3
Johnson County	71th	Relatively Low	85.2	76.3	30.5	42.8
Bell County	68th	Relatively Low	82.0	73.3	41.6	59.4
Barren County	68th	Relatively Low	67.8	16.6	85.4	77.4
Clay County	67th	Relatively Low	81.0	85.1	41.3	41.8
Letcher County	67th	Relatively Low	83.1	76.5	27.8	52.5
Harlan County	66th	Relatively Low	79.9	69.8	39.5	56.2
Breathitt County	65th	Relatively Low	82.3	69.9	27.5	41.6
Franklin County	64th	Relatively Low	71.0	15.0	84.9	63.1
Whitley County	62th	Relatively Low	71.1	85.1	64.0	69.9
Marshall County	62th	Relatively Low	47.3	28.6	60.8	92.6
Shelby County	62th	Relatively Low	61.4	21.4	87.8	73.6
Campbell County	58th	Relatively Low	64.3	14.4	80.0	68.2
Scott County	56th	Relatively Low	58.1	14.6	80.5	75.4
Oldham County	56th	Relatively Low	59.7	16.5	85.5	56.1
Nelson County	55th	Relatively Low	62.7	24.6	69.1	70.3
Wayne County	55th	Relatively Low	51.1	38.0	43.4	57.8
Logan County	55th	Relatively Low	41.6	5.7	67.7	81.3
Ohio County	54th	Relatively Low	53.8	11.8	63.7	85.8
Lawrence County	53th	Relatively Low	73.0	67.0	20.5	32.9
Muhlenberg County	53th	Relatively Low	45.7	18.2	54.6	85.8
Carter County	53th	Relatively Low	69.4	58.2	40.2	42.2
Greenup County	53th	Relatively Low	68.4	40.2	41.5	43.1
Knott County	52th	Relatively Low	73.1	74.1	19.5	35.1
Martin County	50th	Relatively Low	71.2	77.2	21.9	30.2
Trigg County	48th	Relatively Low	49.3	12.5	69.7	85.2
Rowan County	48th	Relatively Low	67.2	46.6	41.3	45.7
Fulton County	47th	Relatively Low	19.2	4.8	50.3	91.9
Grayson County	45th	Relatively Low	48.3	11.7	70.8	70.3
Union County	43th	Very Low	36.0	5.6	38.7	88.4
Estill County	42th	Very Low	63.9	44.7	37.8	35.4
Boyle County	42th	Very Low	43.2	9.5	76.4	69.4
Lewis County	41th	Very Low	64.9	15.3	35.7	27.0
Mercer County	41th	Very Low	53.3	11.0	69.1	58.4
Hart County	41th	Very Low	49.7	10.9	63.8	63.5
Meade County	41th	Very Low	45.2	13.9	75.9	61.3
McLean County	41th	Very Low	45.8	4.5	37.6	84.6
Woodford County	40th	Very Low	48.0	7.7	73.2	58.0
Jessamine County	40th	Very Low	42.3	6.7	69.3	55.7
Ballard County	40th	Very Low	12.2	6.0	31.7	88.9
Breckinridge County	40th	Very Low	49.0	10.5	62.8	67.8
Adair County	39th	Very Low	44.5	15.9	65.7	65.3
Bourbon County	39th	Very Low	53.8	4.5	59.0	56.0
Mason County	39th	Very Low	56.2	6.6	57.9	54.1
Caldwell County	39th	Very Low	30.6	5.8	61.2	86.0
Taylor County	39th	Very Low	40.6	7.7	68.9	67.2
Clark County	38th	Very Low	47.3	14.3	68.0	59.4
Casey County	37th	Very Low	48.8	17.8	61.4	55.2
Rockcastle County	36th	Very Low	53.0	47.5	48.9	40.9
Hickman County	36th	Very Low	8.6	2.8	41.4	90.9
Magoffin County	35th	Very Low	60.5	82.1	22.1	40.7
Montgomery County	34th	Very Low	49.7	30.7	53.8	57.8
Harrison County	34th	Very Low	48.9	9.8	63.3	56.1
Allen County	33th	Very Low	27.4	9.3	69.5	75.0
Lincoln County	33th	Very Low	44.2	24.3	39.6	57.4
Russell County	32th	Very Low	35.7	29.8	64.1	56.4
Leslie County	32th	Very Low	57.1	62.8	22.0	39.7
Powell County	31th	Very Low	51.4	43.2	37.1	37.8
Fleming County	31th	Very Low	47.1	22.6	54.2	49.1
Crittenden County	30th	Very Low	30.8	8.8	47.7	81.6
Garrard County	30th	Very Low	40.9	18.1	57.6	49.4
Marion County	30th	Very Low	39.7	11.1	61.9	60.6
Cumberland County	30th	Very Low	53.7	6.2	38.4	38.7
Pendleton County	30th	Very Low	49.1	5.5	51.8	30.9
Webster County	29th	Very Low	31.8	2.5	39.7	81.2
Lyon County	29th	Very Low	18.2	12.8	48.0	82.0
Hancock County	29th	Very Low	48.3	5.1	34.4	70.4
Todd County	29th	Very Low	29.1	2.9	55.1	77.3
Livingston County	27th	Very Low	23.3	6.5	49.1	82.1
Simpson County	27th	Very Low	24.2	5.5	55.4	76.6
Monroe County	27th	Very Low	34.0	11.0	53.4	63.6
Anderson County	26th	Very Low	34.4	8.0	64.2	49.5
McCreary County	25th	Very Low	24.3	74.2	48.2	60.0
Clinton County	25th	Very Low	41.0	33.4	46.2	36.2
Jackson County	24th	Very Low	42.4	79.8	31.8	36.3
Carroll County	23th	Very Low	41.7	2.7	57.8	35.0
Morgan County	22th	Very Low	45.7	70.9	29.6	37.2
Metcalfe County	22th	Very Low	33.0	6.8	48.7	50.5
Nicholas County	19th	Very Low	41.3	2.3	35.7	38.5
Carlisle County	19th	Very Low	7.3	3.3	30.5	86.2
Wolfe County	19th	Very Low	42.6	63.8	21.4	30.0
Butler County	18th	Very Low	23.7	5.3	45.6	67.0
Gallatin County	17th	Very Low	33.9	2.0	46.7	23.1
Washington County	17th	Very Low	27.8	11.5	53.3	48.8
Grant County	16th	Very Low	17.1	7.2	64.4	39.4
Henry County	16th	Very Low	27.3	5.9	50.2	43.2
Owen County	15th	Very Low	30.9	5.6	50.6	32.8
Green County	14th	Very Low	22.4	4.3	46.1	47.3
Bath County	14th	Very Low	29.5	26.2	32.6	33.9
Spencer County	13th	Very Low	22.6	9.1	56.7	39.2
Larue County	12th	Very Low	22.9	7.0	36.3	50.8
Elliott County	12th	Very Low	32.9	57.3	24.1	35.1
Bracken County	12th	Very Low	26.2	1.6	31.9	26.8
Trimble County	12th	Very Low	23.5	3.6	52.6	28.0
Edmonson County	11th	Very Low	18.6	3.5	40.9	43.4
Lee County	8th	Very Low	21.2	57.8	23.4	25.3
Owsley County	6th	Very Low	21.2	64.6	15.8	25.4
Menifee County	6th	Very Low	21.8	51.5	19.8	20.4
Robertson County	2th	Very Low	6.6	0.7	21.2	27.7

Frequently Asked Questions

Which county in Kentucky has the highest natural disaster risk?

Jefferson County has the highest natural disaster risk in Kentucky, rated Relatively High (98th percentile nationally), based on FEMA National Risk Index data.

Which county in Kentucky is the safest from natural disasters?

Robertson County has the lowest natural disaster risk in Kentucky, rated Very Low (2th percentile nationally), based on FEMA NRI data.

What natural disasters are most common in Kentucky?

Kentucky counties face varying levels of risk from floods, wildfires, tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes. The FEMA National Risk Index scores each county across 18 hazard types. See individual county pages for detailed hazard breakdowns.

How is natural disaster risk measured by county?

The FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) measures natural disaster risk using expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience. Scores are normalized nationally, with ratings from Very Low to Very High across 18 natural hazard types.

Prepare your household for natural disasters

FEMA's Ready.gov provides county-specific preparedness checklists and emergency planning guides.

FEMA Ready Guide →

Data Source

Risk data sourced from the FEMA National Risk Index (NRI). Risk scores are relative rankings (0–100) across all US counties — not absolute risk measures. Higher scores indicate higher relative risk compared to other counties.

Disclaimer: This data is informational only. It is not financial, insurance, or legal advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making insurance or real estate decisions.

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