Editorial
Most disaster-prone counties in Utah
Utah has 240 county-level FEMA disaster declarations across 29 counties. The dominant hazard type is flood. Washington County leads with 14 declarations, followed by Salt Lake County and Utah County.
This ranking shows every county in Utah 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.
Utah ranking
All counties by FEMA declaration count
| # | County | Declarations | Top hazard | First year | Latest year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington County | 14 | Fire | 1977 | 2025 |
| 2 | Salt Lake County | 12 | Fire | 1983 | 2021 |
| 3 | Utah County | 12 | Fire | 1983 | 2023 |
| 4 | Davis County | 11 | Severe Storm | 1977 | 2021 |
| 5 | Wasatch County | 11 | Flood | 1977 | 2023 |
| 6 | Weber County | 11 | Flood | 1977 | 2021 |
| 7 | Millard County | 10 | Fire | 1977 | 2020 |
| 8 | Sanpete County | 10 | Flood | 1977 | 2023 |
| 9 | Box Elder County | 9 | Flood | 1977 | 2020 |
| 10 | Morgan County | 9 | Flood | 1977 | 2023 |
| 11 | Sevier County | 9 | Flood | 1977 | 2025 |
| 12 | Summit County | 9 | Flood | 1977 | 2021 |
| 13 | Tooele County | 9 | Flood | 1977 | 2020 |
| 14 | Duchesne County | 8 | Biological | 1977 | 2020 |
| 15 | Kane County | 8 | Biological | 1977 | 2020 |
| 16 | Piute County | 8 | Biological | 1977 | 2025 |
| 17 | Uintah County | 8 | Flood | 1977 | 2020 |
| 18 | Beaver County | 7 | Flood | 1977 | 2020 |
| 19 | Cache County | 7 | Flood | 1977 | 2020 |
| 20 | Daggett County | 7 | Biological | 1977 | 2020 |
| 21 | Garfield County | 7 | Biological | 1977 | 2021 |
| 22 | Iron County | 7 | Biological | 1977 | 2023 |
| 23 | Juab County | 7 | Biological | 1977 | 2020 |
| 24 | Emery County | 6 | Biological | 1977 | 2020 |
| 25 | San Juan County | 6 | Biological | 1977 | 2025 |
| 26 | Carbon County | 5 | Biological | 1977 | 2020 |
| 27 | Rich County | 5 | Biological | 1977 | 2020 |
| 28 | Grand County | 4 | Biological | 1977 | 2020 |
| 29 | Wayne County | 4 | Biological | 1977 | 2020 |