California Natural Disaster Risk by County
Of California's 58 counties, 9 have a Very High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025); the highest is Los Angeles County (score 100.0 of 100), and expected losses across the state total $30 billion a year.
OpenFEMA lists 396 federal disaster, emergency and fire management declarations for California since 1954 (not counting COVID-19); the latest is FM-5679-CA, Norte Fire, declared 16 October 2026.
Live weather alerts for California Latest FEMA declarations All official warnings
Most exposed counties, hazard by hazard
Top 10 by FEMA hazard risk scoreHurricane 3 rated
| # | County | Rating | Loss a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Imperial County | Very Low | $4,743 |
| 2 | Riverside County | Very Low | $2,672 |
| 3 | San Diego County | Very Low | $1,416 |
Tornado 58 rated
| # | County | Rating | Loss a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles County | Relatively High | $18 million |
| 2 | Riverside County | Relatively Moderate | $5.9 million |
| 3 | Orange County | Relatively Moderate | $5.3 million |
| 4 | San Bernardino County | Relatively Moderate | $3.8 million |
| 5 | Alameda County | Relatively Moderate | $2.4 million |
| 6 | Sacramento County | Relatively Moderate | $2.1 million |
| 7 | San Diego County | Relatively Low | $2.3 million |
| 8 | Fresno County | Relatively Low | $1.3 million |
| 9 | Santa Clara County | Relatively Low | $1.8 million |
| 10 | Contra Costa County | Relatively Low | $1.4 million |
Inland flooding 58 rated
| # | County | Rating | Loss a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles County | Very High | $2.8 billion |
| 2 | Riverside County | Very High | $1.1 billion |
| 3 | San Bernardino County | Very High | $960 million |
| 4 | Orange County | Very High | $820 million |
| 5 | Santa Clara County | Very High | $720 million |
| 6 | San Diego County | Very High | $648 million |
| 7 | Alameda County | Very High | $491 million |
| 8 | Contra Costa County | Very High | $412 million |
| 9 | Ventura County | Very High | $313 million |
| 10 | Sonoma County | Relatively High | $280 million |
Coastal flooding 20 rated
| # | County | Rating | Loss a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marin County | Very High | $20 million |
| 2 | Orange County | Relatively High | $8.4 million |
| 3 | San Mateo County | Relatively High | $8.7 million |
| 4 | Los Angeles County | Relatively High | $5.2 million |
| 5 | Santa Clara County | Relatively High | $6.7 million |
| 6 | Humboldt County | Relatively High | $3.7 million |
| 7 | Alameda County | Relatively High | $4.6 million |
| 8 | Solano County | Relatively High | $3.5 million |
| 9 | San Diego County | Relatively Moderate | $1.5 million |
| 10 | Sonoma County | Relatively Moderate | $1.1 million |
Wildfire 58 rated
| # | County | Rating | Loss a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego County | Very High | $430 million |
| 2 | Riverside County | Very High | $347 million |
| 3 | Los Angeles County | Very High | $155 million |
| 4 | San Bernardino County | Very High | $146 million |
| 5 | Orange County | Relatively High | $58 million |
| 6 | Ventura County | Relatively High | $50 million |
| 7 | El Dorado County | Relatively High | $55 million |
| 8 | Kern County | Relatively High | $38 million |
| 9 | Shasta County | Relatively High | $35 million |
| 10 | Calaveras County | Relatively High | $30 million |
Earthquake 58 rated
| # | County | Rating | Loss a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles County | Very High | $4.6 billion |
| 2 | Alameda County | Very High | $1.4 billion |
| 3 | Santa Clara County | Very High | $1.2 billion |
| 4 | Orange County | Very High | $1.0 billion |
| 5 | San Bernardino County | Very High | $922 million |
| 6 | Riverside County | Very High | $764 million |
| 7 | San Francisco County | Very High | $662 million |
| 8 | Contra Costa County | Relatively High | $519 million |
| 9 | San Mateo County | Relatively High | $497 million |
| 10 | San Diego County | Relatively High | $426 million |
Every California county, highest overall risk first
58| # | County | Overall risk | Score | Loss a year | Top hazard | Declarations | Tornadoes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles County | Very High | 100.0 | $7.6 billion | Earthquake | 86 | 49 |
| 2 | Riverside County | Very High | 99.9 | $2.3 billion | Wildfire | 64 | 27 |
| 3 | San Bernardino County | Very High | 99.8 | $2.1 billion | Landslide | 59 | 32 |
| 4 | Orange County | Very High | 99.8 | $1.9 billion | Earthquake | 41 | 32 |
| 5 | Alameda County | Very High | 99.8 | $1.9 billion | Earthquake | 22 | 3 |
| 6 | Santa Clara County | Very High | 99.7 | $2.0 billion | Earthquake | 23 | 6 |
| 7 | San Diego County | Very High | 99.7 | $1.5 billion | Wildfire | 49 | 27 |
| 8 | Contra Costa County | Very High | 99.5 | $971 million | Earthquake | 19 | 5 |
| 9 | San Francisco County | Very High | 99.5 | $853 million | Earthquake | 9 | 0 |
| 10 | Ventura County | Relatively High | 99.4 | $762 million | Wildfire | 51 | 8 |
| 11 | Fresno County | Relatively High | 99.3 | $557 million | Drought | 18 | 32 |
| 12 | San Mateo County | Relatively High | 99.2 | $740 million | Earthquake | 22 | 4 |
| 13 | Sonoma County | Relatively High | 99.1 | $605 million | Landslide | 34 | 13 |
| 14 | Santa Barbara County | Relatively High | 99.0 | $477 million | Landslide | 41 | 7 |
| 15 | Kern County | Relatively High | 98.9 | $417 million | Wildfire | 38 | 16 |
| 16 | Monterey County | Relatively High | 98.7 | $402 million | Drought | 31 | 5 |
| 17 | San Joaquin County | Relatively High | 98.6 | $422 million | Drought | 23 | 19 |
| 18 | Sacramento County | Relatively High | 98.1 | $352 million | Drought | 21 | 16 |
| 19 | Santa Cruz County | Relatively High | 97.8 | $335 million | Drought | 32 | 8 |
| 20 | Solano County | Relatively High | 97.0 | $292 million | Drought | 28 | 4 |
| 21 | Tulare County | Relatively High | 97.0 | $214 million | Heat wave | 21 | 14 |
| 22 | Stanislaus County | Relatively High | 96.9 | $265 million | Drought | 18 | 13 |
| 23 | Merced County | Relatively High | 96.9 | $205 million | Drought | 17 | 17 |
| 24 | Humboldt County | Relatively High | 96.8 | $189 million | Landslide | 25 | 2 |
| 25 | Imperial County | Relatively High | 96.5 | $148 million | Earthquake | 13 | 7 |
| 26 | Marin County | Relatively High | 96.4 | $259 million | Landslide | 24 | 1 |
| 27 | Madera County | Relatively High | 96.4 | $162 million | Drought | 23 | 12 |
| 28 | San Luis Obispo County | Relatively High | 95.9 | $214 million | Drought | 26 | 4 |
| 29 | Napa County | Relatively High | 95.3 | $186 million | Drought | 37 | 1 |
| 30 | Del Norte County | Relatively High | 94.4 | $142 million | Landslide | 19 | 6 |
| 31 | Mendocino County | Relatively High | 94.3 | $117 million | Landslide | 31 | 4 |
| 32 | Butte County | Relatively Moderate | 93.9 | $127 million | Drought | 37 | 18 |
| 33 | Shasta County | Relatively Moderate | 93.4 | $135 million | Wildfire | 39 | 0 |
| 34 | Placer County | Relatively Moderate | 93.1 | $163 million | Wildfire | 24 | 6 |
| 35 | Lake County | Relatively Moderate | 93.0 | $101 million | Wildfire | 33 | 0 |
| 36 | Kings County | Relatively Moderate | 92.4 | $96 million | Drought | 17 | 8 |
| 37 | El Dorado County | Relatively Moderate | 91.4 | $124 million | Wildfire | 25 | 5 |
| 38 | Yolo County | Relatively Moderate | 91.4 | $116 million | Drought | 20 | 4 |
| 39 | Nevada County | Relatively Moderate | 89.9 | $81 million | Wildfire | 21 | 1 |
| 40 | Siskiyou County | Relatively Moderate | 89.0 | $57 million | Drought | 21 | 1 |
| 41 | Tehama County | Relatively Moderate | 88.9 | $69 million | Drought | 23 | 12 |
| 42 | Calaveras County | Relatively Moderate | 86.6 | $53 million | Wildfire | 22 | 2 |
| 43 | Plumas County | Relatively Moderate | 86.4 | $41 million | Wildfire | 21 | 0 |
| 44 | Mariposa County | Relatively Moderate | 86.4 | $38 million | Landslide | 22 | 3 |
| 45 | San Benito County | Relatively Moderate | 85.2 | $80 million | Landslide | 16 | 2 |
| 46 | Tuolumne County | Relatively Moderate | 85.2 | $51 million | Wildfire | 20 | 1 |
| 47 | Sutter County | Relatively Moderate | 83.7 | $45 million | Drought | 18 | 6 |
| 48 | Colusa County | Relatively Moderate | 81.1 | $41 million | Drought | 17 | 4 |
| 49 | Yuba County | Relatively Low | 80.9 | $46 million | Drought | 26 | 4 |
| 50 | Trinity County | Relatively Low | 79.5 | $29 million | Landslide | 30 | 0 |
| 51 | Inyo County | Relatively Low | 79.3 | $28 million | Heat wave | 14 | 2 |
| 52 | Amador County | Relatively Low | 79.2 | $39 million | Drought | 19 | 0 |
| 53 | Glenn County | Relatively Low | 74.4 | $41 million | Drought | 19 | 11 |
| 54 | Lassen County | Relatively Low | 73.1 | $25 million | Wildfire | 17 | 4 |
| 55 | Mono County | Relatively Low | 46.5 | $17 million | Wildfire | 12 | 0 |
| 56 | Modoc County | Very Low | 39.7 | $9.8 million | Drought | 15 | 0 |
| 57 | Sierra County | Very Low | 31.5 | $8.4 million | Wildfire | 14 | 0 |
| 58 | Alpine County | Very Low | 10.6 | $4.8 million | Avalanche | 13 | 0 |
Score: FEMA's national percentile (higher = more risk). Declarations: federal declarations that named the county since 1953, not counting COVID-19. Tornadoes: NOAA SPC tornadoes that touched the county, 1950–2025.
Latest federal declarations in California
Other states and territories
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What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index compares every US county with every other for 18 natural hazards, combining expected losses with social vulnerability and community resilience. It is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not the risk to any one property — for flood zones use FEMA's Flood Map Service Center ↗. Federal declarations exclude state declarations and SBA or USDA designations.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about California
Which county in California has the highest natural disaster risk?
Of California's 58 counties, 9 have a Very High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025); the highest is Los Angeles County (score 100.0 of 100), and expected losses across the state total $30 billion a year.
Which California counties are most at risk from tornadoes?
By FEMA's National Risk Index tornado risk score: Los Angeles County, Riverside County, Orange County. These are planning-level estimates for whole counties, not maps of individual properties.
Which California counties are most at risk from hurricanes?
By FEMA's National Risk Index hurricane risk score: Imperial County, Riverside County, San Diego County. These are planning-level estimates for whole counties, not maps of individual properties.
How many FEMA disaster declarations has California had?
OpenFEMA lists 396 federal disaster, emergency and fire management declarations for California since 1954 (not counting COVID-19); the latest is FM-5679-CA, Norte Fire, declared 16 October 2026.