Editorial

Most disaster-prone counties in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has 1,245 county-level FEMA disaster declarations across 67 counties. The dominant hazard type is flood. Montgomery County leads with 29 declarations, followed by Bucks County and Wyoming County.

This ranking shows every county in Pennsylvania 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.

Pennsylvania ranking

All counties by FEMA declaration count

#CountyDeclarationsTop hazardFirst yearLatest year
1Montgomery County29Hurricane19652021
2Bucks County27Hurricane19652021
3Wyoming County27Tropical Storm19722024
4Chester County26Hurricane19652021
5Philadelphia County25Hurricane19652021
6Sullivan County25Tropical Storm19722024
7Wayne County25Tropical Storm19652024
8Delaware County24Hurricane19652021
9Northampton County24Hurricane19652021
10Schuylkill County24Flood19652021
11Susquehanna County24Tropical Storm19722024
12Berks County23Severe Storm19652020
13Luzerne County23Hurricane19722021
14Dauphin County22Flood19722021
15Lackawanna County22Flood19722020
16Lancaster County22Flood19722020
17Bedford County21Flood19722021
18Bradford County21Flood19722020
19Lycoming County21Flood19722024
20Monroe County21Flood19652020
21Somerset County21Flood19722020
22York County21Flood19722021
23Adams County20Flood19722020
24Columbia County20Flood19722020
25Franklin County20Flood19722020
26Juniata County20Flood19722020
27Perry County20Flood19722020
28Tioga County20Flood19722024
29Westmoreland County20Flood19712020
30Cumberland County19Flood19722020
31Lebanon County19Flood19722020
32Northumberland County19Flood19722020
33Allegheny County18Flood19722020
34Blair County18Flood19722020
35Cambria County18Flood19722024
36Carbon County18Flood19652020
37Fayette County18Snowstorm19712020
38Huntingdon County18Flood19722021
39Indiana County18Flood19722024
40Pike County18Hurricane19652020
41Union County18Flood19722024
42Armstrong County17Flood19722020
43Clearfield County17Flood19722024
44Fulton County17Hurricane19722021
45Lehigh County17Hurricane19652020
46Mifflin County17Flood19722020
47Montour County17Flood19722020
48Snyder County17Flood19722020
49Beaver County15Flood19722020
50Centre County15Flood19722020
51Clinton County15Flood19722020
52Crawford County15Flood19722020
53Greene County15Flood19722020
54Venango County15Flood19722020
55Clarion County14Flood19722020
56Jefferson County14Flood19722020
57Potter County14Hurricane19722024
58Washington County14Flood19722020
59McKean County13Flood19722020
60Mercer County13Flood19722020
61Forest County12Hurricane19722020
62Lawrence County12Hurricane19722020
63Butler County11Flood19722020
64Cameron County11Hurricane19722024
65Erie County11Hurricane19722020
66Elk County10Hurricane19722024
67Warren County10Hurricane19722020