PlainHazard rankings
Natural disaster rankings
California leads the FEMA declaration ranking with 396 records (8% of the 5,218 nationwide). Browse 13 state-level rankings built from FEMA and NOAA source tables.
California tops the most-disaster-prone states list with 396 FEMA declarations
According to FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries and NOAA Storm Events, PlainHazard publishes 13 state-level rankings covering declarations, damage, fatalities, injuries, Major Disaster (DR) counts, FEMA National Risk Index safety, and selected NOAA event types. California leads total declarations; each ranking answers a different measure, so no single state leads every list.
- 396 California FEMA declarations
- 13 state ranking views
- 5,218 declarations nationwide
The declaration ranking in one line
California accounts for 8% of all FEMA disaster declaration records among the 59 states and territories previewed below, and the top 10 states shown here are the opening slice of the full most-disasters ranking.
- California
- most FEMA declaration records
- 396
- California declarations
- 13
- ranking views on this hub
Declaration counts are federal activity records, not per-capita risk. Open each ranking for its own top state and source.
Which states and counties face the most natural disasters? These rankings draw on FEMA disaster declarations (1973–2026) and the NOAA Storm Events Database, covering all 50 states, DC, and U.S. territories. See our methodology for how each ranking is built.
Most Disaster-Prone States
All 59 states and territories ranked by total FEMA disaster declarations since 1973. California leads the country.
Most Costly States
States ranked by total property and crop damage recorded in the NOAA Storm Events database.
Deadliest States
States ranked by storm-related fatalities in the NOAA Storm Events database.
States with the Most Storm Injuries
States ranked by storm-related injuries reported to NOAA.
Most Major Disaster Declarations
States ranked by Major Disaster (DR) declarations, the most serious FEMA declaration class.
Safest States from Natural Disasters
States ranked by average county FEMA National Risk Index score. Lower scores rank first.
Tornado Risk by State
States ranked by recorded tornado events in the NOAA Storm Events Database.
Hurricane Risk by State
States ranked by NOAA Hurricane (Typhoon) event counts (tropical storms excluded).
States with Most Wildfires
States ranked by recorded wildfire events in the NOAA Storm Events Database.
States with Most Hail Events
States ranked by NOAA-recorded hail-event counts; this is not a hail-size or insurance-loss ranking.
States with Most Lightning Events
States ranked by NOAA-recorded lightning events; this is not a lightning-strike-density ranking.
States with Most Thunderstorm-Wind Events
States ranked by NOAA Thunderstorm Wind and Funnel Cloud event records.
Flood Events by State
States ranked by NOAA-recorded Flood, Flash Flood, Coastal Flood, and Lakeshore Flood events; this is not a floodplain or forecast map.
Top 10 most disaster-prone states
By total FEMA disaster declarations since 1973. See the full ranking of all 59 states and territories.
| # | State | FEMA Declarations | Top Hazard |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 396 | Fire |
| 2 | Texas | 389 | Fire |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 258 | Fire |
| 4 | Washington | 215 | Fire |
| 5 | Florida | 188 | Fire |
| 6 | Oregon | 169 | Fire |
| 7 | New Mexico | 126 | Fire |
| 8 | Arizona | 120 | Fire |
| 9 | New York | 118 | Severe Storm |
| 10 | Montana | 112 | Fire |
Frequently Asked Questions
What rankings does PlainHazard publish?
Which state ranks worst across the most disaster measures?
Download the county summary (CSV) , open extract wired into this page's Dataset JSON-LD (same file as /statistics).
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.