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Editorial

Most disaster-prone counties in Minnesota

Minnesota has 1,541 county-level FEMA disaster declarations across 87 counties. The dominant hazard type is flood. Norman County leads with 32 declarations, followed by Polk County and Kittson County.

This ranking shows every county in Minnesota 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.

Minnesota ranking

All counties by FEMA declaration count

#CountyDeclarationsTop hazardFirst yearLatest year
1Norman County32Flood19652023
2Polk County31Flood19652022
3Kittson County30Flood19652023
4Marshall County30Flood19652023
5Clay County29Flood19662023
6Roseau County26Flood19652023
7Traverse County25Flood19652023
8Wilkin County25Flood19662023
9Blue Earth County24Flood19652024
10Yellow Medicine County24Severe Storm19652022
11Red Lake County23Flood19662022
12Faribault County22Flood19652024
13Nicollet County22Flood19652024
14Renville County22Flood19652024
15Aitkin County21Flood19652023
16Beltrami County21Flood19662022
17Chippewa County21Flood19652023
18Freeborn County21Flood19652024
19Houston County21Flood19652024
20Lac qui Parle County21Flood19652023
21Nobles County21Severe Storm19692024
22Redwood County21Flood19652024
23Sibley County21Flood19652024
24Big Stone County20Flood19692023
25Brown County20Flood19652024
26Mahnomen County20Flood19652023
27Pennington County20Flood19662022
28Becker County19Flood19662020
29Grant County19Flood19652023
30Le Sueur County19Flood19652024
31Ramsey County19Flood19652020
32Stevens County19Flood19692023
33Swift County19Flood19652023
34Fillmore County18Flood19652024
35Goodhue County18Flood19652024
36Hennepin County18Flood19652020
37Jackson County18Flood19652024
38Lake of the Woods County18Flood19652023
39Lyon County18Flood19692022
40McLeod County18Flood19652024
41Carver County17Flood19652024
42Cottonwood County17Flood19652024
43Murray County17Flood19692024
44Otter Tail County17Flood19652020
45St. Louis County17Flood19702025
46Steele County17Flood19652024
47Wabasha County17Flood19652024
48Washington County17Flood19652020
49Winona County17Flood19652020
50Wright County17Flood19652020
51Clearwater County16Flood19742022
52Dakota County16Flood19652020
53Dodge County16Severe Storm19652020
54Kandiyohi County16Severe Storm19652022
55Mower County16Severe Storm19652024
56Pope County16Flood19652023
57Rock County16Flood19692024
58Scott County16Flood19652020
59Itasca County15Severe Storm19662024
60Martin County15Flood19652024
61Olmsted County15Flood19652020
62Pine County15Flood19652023
63Wadena County15Flood19652022
64Cass County14Flood19652024
65Douglas County14Flood19652022
66Lincoln County14Severe Storm19692022
67Morrison County14Flood19652023
68Pipestone County14Flood19692024
69Rice County14Flood19652024
70Waseca County14Flood19652024
71Anoka County13Flood19652020
72Benton County13Flood19652020
73Crow Wing County13Flood19652022
74Stearns County13Flood19652022
75Todd County13Flood19652022
76Watonwan County13Flood19652024
77Chisago County12Flood19652020
78Koochiching County12Flood19702022
79Lake County12Flood19722024
80Kanabec County11Flood19652022
81Meeker County11Severe Storm19652020
82Carlton County10Flood19722023
83Cook County10Severe Storm19762024
84Hubbard County10Severe Storm19762020
85Isanti County10Flood19652020
86Mille Lacs County10Flood19652023
87Sherburne County10Flood19652020