US Counties With the Highest Expected Yearly Tornado Loss

3,144 US counties ranked by expected yearly tornado loss, from highest to lowest. First are Johnson County, IA (62.9), Logan County, OK (60.3) and York County, NE (47.5). The middle one of the 3,144 has 9.22.

What this measures

The damage tornadoes are expected to do to buildings in an average year, in dollars for every $100,000 that the buildings are worth. FEMA works it out from the tornadoes recorded from 1986 to 2023 and the damage they did. Source: FEMA National Risk Index.

For most measures, a national ranking mostly sorts places by income and by how urban they are. Each county’s own page compares it with the 50 counties most like it instead, which is often the fairer view.

The 100 highest counties

Rank	County	$ per $100,000 of buildings
1	Johnson County, IA	62.9
2	Logan County, OK	60.3
3	York County, NE	47.5
4	Platte County, NE	44.7
5	Sumter County, AL	44.5
6	Norton County, KS	40.4
7	Fillmore County, NE	37.9
8	Clay County, NE	36.7
9	Cuming County, NE	36.4
10	Etowah County, AL	36
11	Polk County, NE	35.9
12	Lincoln County, OK	35.6
13	Thayer County, NE	35.3
14	Grady County, OK	34.5
15	Union County, SD	34.4
16	Clay County, SD	34
17	Kingfisher County, OK	33.7
18	Webster County, IA	33.6
19	Hamilton County, NE	33.5
20	Caddo County, OK	33.5
21	Madison County, MS	33.4
22	Yankton County, SD	33.3
23	Noxubee County, MS	33.2
24	Pottawatomie County, OK	33.2
25	Nance County, NE	33
26	Pemiscot County, MO	32.9
27	Greene County, IA	32.9
28	Payne County, OK	32.6
29	Marshall County, AL	32.5
30	Gage County, NE	32.5
31	Winston County, MS	32.5
32	Turner County, SD	32.4
33	Pawnee County, KS	32.3
34	Harper County, KS	32.3
35	Newton County, MS	32.3
36	Marion County, AL	32.2
37	Merrick County, NE	32.2
38	Walker County, AL	32.2
39	Nuckolls County, NE	31.6
40	Butler County, NE	31.6
41	Yazoo County, MS	31.5
42	Colfax County, NE	31.5
43	Adair County, IA	31.4
44	Jewell County, KS	31.2
45	Sarpy County, NE	31.1
46	Guthrie County, IA	31.1
47	Jasper County, MS	31.1
48	Neshoba County, MS	31
49	Shelby County, AL	31
50	Pottawattamie County, IA	31
51	Pickens County, AL	30.9
52	Shelby County, IA	30.8
53	Andrew County, MO	30.7
54	Adams County, NE	30.7
55	Doniphan County, KS	30.6
56	Audubon County, IA	30.5
57	Blount County, AL	30.4
58	Tensas Parish, LA	30.4
59	Carroll County, IA	30.4
60	Kossuth County, IA	30.3
61	Humphreys County, MS	30.3
62	Cass County, IA	30.2
63	Adams County, IA	30.2
64	Sumner County, KS	30.1
65	Webster County, NE	30.1
66	Lincoln County, SD	29.9
67	Montgomery County, KS	29.8
68	St. Francis County, AR	29.7
69	Hall County, NE	29.7
70	Hancock County, IA	29.7
71	Taylor County, IA	29.7
72	Smith County, KS	29.7
73	Calhoun County, IA	29.7
74	Seward County, NE	29.7
75	Kemper County, MS	29.6
76	Simpson County, MS	29.6
77	Hardin County, IA	29.6
78	Saline County, NE	29.6
79	Hamilton County, IA	29.5
80	Rooks County, KS	29.4
81	Pratt County, KS	29.4
82	Kingman County, KS	29.4
83	Crawford County, IA	29.4
84	McClain County, OK	29.3
85	Montgomery County, IA	29.3
86	Pocahontas County, IA	29.2
87	Carson County, TX	29.2
88	Palo Alto County, IA	29.2
89	Boone County, NE	29.1
90	Humboldt County, IA	29
91	Floyd County, IA	28.9
92	Morgan County, AL	28.9
93	Lancaster County, NE	28.9
94	Calhoun County, AL	28.8
95	Lake County, SD	28.8
96	Cerro Gordo County, IA	28.8
97	Douglas County, NE	28.7
98	Story County, IA	28.7
99	Jefferson County, NE	28.7
100	Wayne County, NE	28.7

Every state, highest first

Each state’s own published figure, not an average of its counties.

Rank	State	$ per $100,000 of buildings
1	Nebraska	27.4
2	Iowa	22.6
3	Mississippi	19.2
4	Oklahoma	18.4
5	Alabama	18.1
6	Kansas	17.9
7	South Dakota	17.6
8	Arkansas	15.2
9	Indiana	14
10	Tennessee	12.7
11	Missouri	12.7
12	Kentucky	12.5
13	Minnesota	12.4
14	Illinois	12.3
15	North Dakota	11.5
16	Texas	10.5
17	Colorado	10.2
18	Michigan	10
19	Wisconsin	9.49
20	Georgia	9.26
21	Ohio	8.37
22	Louisiana	7.73
23	North Carolina	6.73
24	South Carolina	6.7
25	Florida	5.22
26	Wyoming	2.98
27	Pennsylvania	2.76
28	Virginia	2.54
29	Connecticut	2.24
30	Delaware	2.15
31	New Jersey	2.08
32	Massachusetts	2.04
33	Maryland	1.98
34	Rhode Island	1.97
35	New Hampshire	1.94
36	West Virginia	1.6
37	District of Columbia	1.51
38	New York	1.26
39	New Mexico	1.07
40	Vermont	1.01
41	Montana	0.9
42	Utah	0.504
43	California	0.502
44	Maine	0.411
45	Idaho	0.372
46	Arizona	0.306
47	Oregon	0.219
48	Hawaii	0.196
49	Washington	0.183
50	Nevada	0.0317
51	Alaska	0.000238

More on expected yearly tornado loss

A ranking describes places, not the people in them, and a high or low place does not by itself say why. All US rankings.