The safest states from natural disasters, measured
Natural-hazard deaths per million residents, 1996 to date (fewest first), 50 states and DC
By deaths from natural hazards per million residents since 1996, Massachusetts (8.4), Connecticut (17.2) and Rhode Island (18.2) are the safest states. By FEMA's modeled loss per resident, Maryland, Rhode Island and Massachusetts are lowest.
The top 15
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1996 to June 30, 2026; FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025) population and expected annual loss. Open the source.
Every row, ranked
| Rank | Name | Deaths per million | Per million, heat excluded | Deaths since 1996 | Population | FEMA modeled loss per resident a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | 8.4 | 8.0 | 59 | 7,021,936 | $210 |
| 2 | Connecticut | 17.2 | 16.9 | 62 | 3,604,191 | $337 |
| 3 | Rhode Island | 18.2 | 15.5 | 20 | 1,096,840 | $198 |
| 4 | Ohio | 22.6 | 21.3 | 267 | 11,793,992 | $259 |
| 5 | District of Columbia | 23.2 | 11.6 | 16 | 688,888 | $425 |
| 6 | Michigan | 23.2 | 22.3 | 234 | 10,071,992 | $283 |
| 7 | Virginia | 25.5 | 24.4 | 220 | 8,620,715 | $230 |
| 8 | Maine | 29.4 | 29.4 | 40 | 1,361,498 | $305 |
| 9 | New Hampshire | 29.8 | 29.8 | 41 | 1,377,074 | $336 |
| 10 | New York | 30.2 | 24.2 | 609 | 20,190,196 | $212 |
| 11 | Georgia | 31.9 | 29.9 | 341 | 10,695,030 | $313 |
| 12 | California | 33.3 | 27.5 | 1,316 | 39,501,350 | $765 |
| 13 | New Jersey | 36.4 | 32.0 | 338 | 9,282,999 | $346 |
| 14 | Minnesota | 36.5 | 33.1 | 208 | 5,703,552 | $453 |
| 15 | Maryland | 38.2 | 17.2 | 236 | 6,173,474 | $172 |
| 16 | Delaware | 38.4 | 29.3 | 38 | 989,008 | $381 |
| 17 | Washington | 42.3 | 39.4 | 326 | 7,699,114 | $613 |
| 18 | Iowa | 47.7 | 46.4 | 152 | 3,189,039 | $575 |
| 19 | Indiana | 51.6 | 50.9 | 350 | 6,779,864 | $350 |
| 20 | Colorado | 55.3 | 55.1 | 319 | 5,768,835 | $375 |
| 21 | South Carolina | 55.6 | 48.7 | 284 | 5,110,387 | $584 |
| 22 | Florida | 60.7 | 60.0 | 1,305 | 21,506,751 | $409 |
| 23 | North Carolina | 60.7 | 59.2 | 633 | 10,427,615 | $425 |
| 24 | Pennsylvania | 62.0 | 29.6 | 805 | 12,994,073 | $313 |
| 25 | Nebraska | 66.3 | 63.3 | 130 | 1,960,023 | $682 |
| 26 | Texas | 68.5 | 51.3 | 1,992 | 29,099,690 | $424 |
| 27 | Idaho | 68.6 | 67.5 | 126 | 1,837,016 | $418 |
| 28 | Illinois | 76.4 | 43.2 | 978 | 12,804,624 | $501 |
| 29 | Wisconsin | 77.6 | 67.6 | 457 | 5,888,183 | $440 |
| 30 | Utah | 78.6 | 75.2 | 257 | 3,270,186 | $483 |
| 31 | West Virginia | 82.1 | 81.5 | 147 | 1,791,515 | $558 |
| 32 | New Mexico | 87.6 | 85.7 | 185 | 2,112,636 | $460 |
| 33 | Tennessee | 89.8 | 77.9 | 620 | 6,904,150 | $435 |
| 34 | Kansas | 90.9 | 84.1 | 267 | 2,936,286 | $607 |
| 35 | Vermont | 93.4 | 85.6 | 60 | 642,541 | $344 |
| 36 | Oregon | 96.9 | 51.1 | 410 | 4,229,068 | $598 |
| 37 | North Dakota | 98.9 | 98.9 | 77 | 778,379 | $726 |
| 38 | Kentucky | 108.6 | 106.2 | 489 | 4,501,790 | $525 |
| 39 | Oklahoma | 121.9 | 95.1 | 482 | 3,952,634 | $537 |
| 40 | Hawaii | 122.6 | 122.6 | 178 | 1,451,939 | $741 |
| 41 | Arkansas | 125.7 | 112.4 | 378 | 3,007,951 | $588 |
| 42 | Alaska | 136.7 | 135.3 | 100 | 731,719 | $1,286 |
| 43 | Missouri | 138.4 | 94.2 | 851 | 6,147,636 | $641 |
| 44 | Alabama | 139.0 | 130.6 | 697 | 5,014,878 | $500 |
| 45 | South Dakota | 148.0 | 145.7 | 131 | 885,247 | $868 |
| 46 | Montana | 149.7 | 147.8 | 162 | 1,082,451 | $732 |
| 47 | Mississippi | 182.2 | 168.6 | 538 | 2,953,138 | $555 |
| 48 | Wyoming | 197.9 | 197.9 | 114 | 576,110 | $598 |
| 49 | Louisiana | 255.6 | 241.0 | 1,189 | 4,652,126 | $720 |
| 50 | Nevada | 317.9 | 30.7 | 985 | 3,098,311 | $443 |
| 51 | Arizona | 435.4 | 41.4 | 3,111 | 7,144,933 | $504 |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1996 to June 30, 2026; FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025) population and expected annual loss.
How this ranking is measured
Safest here means one measured thing: the fewest deaths from natural hazards per million residents in NOAA's Storm Events Database since 1996 (deaths direct and indirect; population from FEMA's National Risk Index county table). It is not a forecast and not a combined score. A state can be safe in different ways, so FEMA's modeled expected annual loss per resident (its estimate of future damage from 18 hazards) is shown beside it: low on both is the strongest reading.
Heat deaths move the bottom of the list
Arizona has the most deaths per million (435.4), and 2,815 of its 3,111 deaths since 1996 are filed as heat. How heat deaths are counted and filed changed sharply in some states: Arizona filed 51 in 1996-2005 and 2,678 in 2016-2025. Without heat, the state with the most deaths per million is Louisiana (241.0); the column "Per million, heat excluded" gives every state on that basis.