PlainHazard

National ranking · FEMA OpenFEMA

States with the most major disaster declarations

U.S. states and territories ranked by FEMA Major Disaster (DR) declarations, the most severe federal designation, requiring individual and public assistance. California leads.

California
Most major disasters
116
California major (DR)
2,920
Major declarations nationwide
59
States & territories

California has the most FEMA Major Disaster (DR) declarations (116, 4% of the nationwide 2,920)

According to FEMA OpenFEMA, PlainHazard ranks all 59 U.S. states and territories by Major Disaster (DR) declarations, FEMA's most severe class. California leads; the top three states together hold 11% of major declarations nationwide. DR totals are not the same as all-declaration counts.

  • 116 California major (DR)
  • 4% of U.S. major declarations
  • 11% held by the top 3 states

How concentrated are major declarations

California accounts for 4% of all FEMA Major Disaster declarations among the 59 states and territories in this ranking, and the top three states combined, California, Texas, Oklahoma, account for 11%. A Major Disaster (DR) declaration is FEMA's most severe designation, triggering individual and public assistance.

4%
of nationwide major declarations are in California alone
11%
of major declarations concentrated in just the top 3 states
59
states and territories covered in this ranking

A raw declaration count is not a per-capita risk measure; see the per-state detail pages for context.

Most Disasters Most Damage Deadliest Most Major

Top 12 states by Major Disaster declarations

Each row links to the state profile, crawlable ranking, not an image-only chart

  1. 1
    California 116 major (DR)
  2. 2
    Texas 107 major (DR)
  3. 3
    Oklahoma 99 major (DR)
  4. 4
    Florida 86 major (DR)
  5. 5
    New York 85 major (DR)
  6. 6
    Kentucky 81 major (DR)
  7. 7
    Louisiana 78 major (DR)
  8. 8
    Tennessee 78 major (DR)
  9. 9
    Mississippi 77 major (DR)
  10. 10
    Alabama 75 major (DR)
  11. 11
    Missouri 75 major (DR)
  12. 12
    Arkansas 74 major (DR)

Source FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-03

The bar to make this top-12 list

Distribution of Major Disaster (DR) counts across all states

74 Top 20% higher than 80% of 59 states

#12 cutoff 0 125 all states in this ranking, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-03

The full ranking

Major (DR) declarations vs. total declarations, by state.

# State Major (DR)Total Declarations
1 California CA 116 396
2 Texas TX 107 389
3 Oklahoma OK 99 258
4 Florida FL 86 188
5 New York NY 85 118
6 Kentucky KY 81 98
7 Louisiana LA 78 111
8 Tennessee TN 78 97
9 Mississippi MS 77 98
10 Alabama AL 75 102
11 Missouri MO 75 86
12 Arkansas AR 74 87
13 West Virginia WV 72 84
14 Iowa IA 72 78
15 Kansas KS 71 94
16 Nebraska NE 70 87
17 Washington WA 68 215
18 Alaska AK 66 94
19 South Dakota SD 63 96
20 Minnesota MN 63 81
21 North Dakota ND 61 75
22 Illinois IL 59 68
23 Virginia VA 58 77
24 North Carolina NC 57 85
25 Vermont VT 55 62
26 Pennsylvania PA 54 64
27 Maine ME 52 71
28 Ohio OH 52 60
29 Georgia GA 51 81
30 New Hampshire NH 48 63
31 Wisconsin WI 47 56
32 Indiana IN 45 54
33 Oregon OR 44 169
34 Montana MT 43 112
35 New Jersey NJ 43 59
36 New Mexico NM 39 126
37 Hawaii HI 39 72
38 Arizona AZ 37 120
39 Massachusetts MA 36 59
40 Puerto Rico PR 36 51
41 Idaho ID 35 60
42 Michigan MI 35 46
43 Maryland MD 31 38
44 South Carolina SC 29 51
45 Connecticut CT 26 43
46 Colorado CO 25 111
47 Nevada NV 22 110
48 U.S. Virgin Islands VI 21 33
49 Northern Mariana Islands MP 20 29
50 Delaware DE 20 26
51 Guam GU 19 25
52 Federated States of Micronesia FM 19 21
53 Rhode Island RI 17 31
54 Utah UT 16 59
55 Wyoming WY 15 45
56 District of Columbia DC 15 24
57 American Samoa AS 15 17
58 Marshall Islands MH 7 7
59 Palau PW 1 1

What to do with this ranking

California accounts for 4% of FEMA Major Disaster (DR) declarations (116); the top three states hold 11% of the 2,920 nationwide major total.

Major Disaster counts are federal assistance triggers, not hazard-frequency or per-capita risk measures. For current threats follow the National Weather Service and local officials; in an emergency call 911.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 Major Disaster (DR) declarations only; excludes Emergency (EM) and Fire Management (FM) designations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which US state has the most FEMA major disaster declarations?
California has the most FEMA Major Disaster (DR) declarations of any state or territory, 116 on record -- 4% of the 2,920 total major declarations nationwide.
What is a "major disaster" declaration, and how is it different from other FEMA declarations?
A Major Disaster (DR) declaration is FEMA's most severe designation, made when an event overwhelms state/local response capacity and unlocks the broadest range of federal aid (individual assistance, public assistance, hazard mitigation). It is distinct from the lighter-weight Emergency (EM) and Fire Management (FM) designations, which this ranking excludes.

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.