Most disaster-prone counties in California
California has 1,650 county-level FEMA disaster declarations across 58 counties. The dominant hazard type is fire. Los Angeles County leads with 88 declarations, followed by Riverside County and San Bernardino County.
This ranking shows every county in California ordered by how many times FEMA has issued a disaster declaration affecting it. Counties near coastlines, river systems, or wildfire corridors tend to appear at the top because the same geographic exposure produces recurring events across decades.
Each county links to a full disaster history page with the complete declaration timeline, hazard type breakdown, decade trends, and whatever FEMA spending data is available. For a national view, see the most disaster-prone counties in America page.
All counties by FEMA declaration count
| # | County | Declarations | Top hazard | First year | Latest year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles County | 88 | Fire | 1969 | 2025 |
| 2 | Riverside County | 65 | Fire | 1965 | 2024 |
| 3 | San Bernardino County | 61 | Fire | 1965 | 2024 |
| 4 | Ventura County | 52 | Fire | 1965 | 2024 |
| 5 | San Diego County | 51 | Fire | 1965 | 2024 |
| 6 | Santa Barbara County | 43 | Fire | 1969 | 2024 |
| 7 | Orange County | 41 | Fire | 1969 | 2023 |
| 8 | Shasta County | 41 | Fire | 1964 | 2023 |
| 9 | Kern County | 40 | Fire | 1967 | 2024 |
| 10 | Butte County | 39 | Fire | 1964 | 2024 |
| 11 | Napa County | 39 | Fire | 1964 | 2023 |
| 12 | Sonoma County | 36 | Fire | 1964 | 2023 |
| 13 | Lake County | 35 | Fire | 1964 | 2024 |
| 14 | Santa Cruz County | 34 | Severe Storm | 1977 | 2024 |
| 15 | Mendocino County | 33 | Flood | 1964 | 2023 |
| 16 | Monterey County | 33 | Severe Storm | 1967 | 2024 |
| 17 | Trinity County | 32 | Severe Storm | 1964 | 2023 |
| 18 | Solano County | 30 | Flood | 1964 | 2023 |
| 19 | San Luis Obispo County | 28 | Flood | 1967 | 2024 |
| 20 | Yuba County | 28 | Fire | 1964 | 2023 |
| 21 | El Dorado County | 27 | Flood | 1964 | 2023 |
| 22 | Humboldt County | 27 | Flood | 1964 | 2023 |
| 23 | Marin County | 26 | Severe Storm | 1964 | 2023 |
| 24 | Placer County | 26 | Fire | 1964 | 2023 |
| 25 | Madera County | 25 | Fire | 1969 | 2023 |
| 26 | San Joaquin County | 25 | Flood | 1964 | 2023 |
| 27 | Santa Clara County | 25 | Severe Storm | 1977 | 2023 |
| 28 | Tehama County | 25 | Flood | 1964 | 2024 |
| 29 | Alameda County | 24 | Severe Storm | 1970 | 2023 |
| 30 | Mariposa County | 24 | Fire | 1969 | 2024 |
| 31 | San Mateo County | 24 | Severe Storm | 1977 | 2023 |
| 32 | Calaveras County | 23 | Severe Storm | 1977 | 2025 |
| 33 | Nevada County | 23 | Fire | 1964 | 2023 |
| 34 | Plumas County | 23 | Flood | 1964 | 2023 |
| 35 | Sacramento County | 23 | Flood | 1964 | 2023 |
| 36 | Siskiyou County | 23 | Fire | 1964 | 2023 |
| 37 | Tulare County | 23 | Flood | 1967 | 2023 |
| 38 | Yolo County | 22 | Severe Storm | 1964 | 2023 |
| 39 | Amador County | 21 | Severe Storm | 1964 | 2023 |
| 40 | Contra Costa County | 21 | Flood | 1969 | 2023 |
| 41 | Del Norte County | 21 | Flood | 1964 | 2023 |
| 42 | Glenn County | 21 | Flood | 1964 | 2024 |
| 43 | Tuolumne County | 21 | Flood | 1964 | 2023 |
| 44 | Fresno County | 20 | Flood | 1969 | 2023 |
| 45 | Stanislaus County | 20 | Flood | 1964 | 2023 |
| 46 | Sutter County | 20 | Severe Storm | 1964 | 2024 |
| 47 | Colusa County | 19 | Severe Storm | 1964 | 2023 |
| 48 | Kings County | 19 | Flood | 1969 | 2023 |
| 49 | Lassen County | 19 | Fire | 1964 | 2021 |
| 50 | Merced County | 19 | Severe Storm | 1969 | 2023 |
| 51 | San Benito County | 18 | Flood | 1969 | 2023 |
| 52 | Modoc County | 17 | Flood | 1964 | 2023 |
| 53 | Inyo County | 16 | Flood | 1967 | 2023 |
| 54 | Sierra County | 16 | Flood | 1964 | 2023 |
| 55 | Alpine County | 15 | Flood | 1964 | 2023 |
| 56 | Imperial County | 15 | Flood | 1976 | 2023 |
| 57 | Mono County | 14 | Flood | 1969 | 2023 |
| 58 | San Francisco County | 11 | Severe Storm | 1989 | 2023 |