Safest places to live in Colorado
The counties and cities with the lowest natural disaster risk, ranked from FEMA's National Risk Index and checked against storm, hurricane and earthquake records.
Routt County has the lowest natural disaster risk of the 25 Colorado counties with 20,000 or more people, followed by Broomfield County and Elbert County. At the other end, Denver County carries the highest risk in the state, mostly from inland flooding. Ranks use FEMA's overall risk score, which weighs expected yearly losses against how vulnerable and how resilient each county is.
Lowest-risk counties
All 64 counties ›24,767 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 3 tornadoes since 1950, 4 federal declarations.2Broomfield County
74,051 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 0 tornadoes since 1950, 2 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 4 federal declarations.3Elbert County
26,043 people. Top hazard: Wildfire. 127 tornadoes since 1950, 11 federal declarations.4Teller County
24,661 people. Top hazard: Wildfire. 13 tornadoes since 1950, 11 federal declarations.5Montezuma County
25,806 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 3 tornadoes since 1950, 6 federal declarations.6Montrose County
42,636 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 3 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 7 federal declarations.7Delta County
31,182 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 3 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 7 federal declarations.8Morgan County
29,096 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 95 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 10 federal declarations.9Logan County
21,526 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 105 tornadoes since 1950, 10 federal declarations.10Summit County
31,040 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 0 tornadoes since 1950, 4 federal declarations.
Lowest-risk cities
All cities ›Broomfield County, 76,304 people2Grand Junction
Mesa County, 68,142 people3Pueblo
Pueblo County, 111,561 people4Pueblo West
Pueblo County, 35,681 people5Highlands Ranch
Douglas County, 102,257 people6Castle Rock
Douglas County, 79,123 people7Parker
Douglas County, 61,783 people8Greeley
Weld County, 110,806 people9Fort Collins
Larimer County, 170,229 people10Loveland
Larimer County, 78,410 people
Cities with 25,000 or more people. The rating is for the county the city is in.
Highest-risk counties
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 19 tornadoes since 1950, 2 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 9 federal declarations.2Jefferson County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 13 tornadoes since 1950, 2 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 13 federal declarations.3El Paso County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 97 tornadoes since 1950, 18 federal declarations.4Arapahoe County
Top hazard: Hail. 100 tornadoes since 1950, 2 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 10 federal declarations.5Adams County
Top hazard: Hail. 192 tornadoes since 1950, 2 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 10 federal declarations.
Before you move
A county rating is an average. Inside any county, homes near rivers, coasts or steep slopes carry more risk than the rest. Look up the exact address with our flood zone lookup, ask the seller about past flood or storm claims, and get an insurance quote before you commit.
Questions
What is the safest county in Colorado from natural disasters?
Routt County has the lowest overall risk score among Colorado counties with 20,000 or more people, rated very low by FEMA's National Risk Index. Its biggest remaining hazard is inland flooding.
What is the safest city in Colorado from natural disasters?
Broomfield sits in Broomfield County, which has the lowest risk score of any Colorado county containing a city of 25,000 or more people. County ratings cover the whole county, so check the flood zone of any address you are considering.
Which counties in Colorado have the highest disaster risk?
Denver County, Jefferson County and El Paso County have the highest overall risk scores in the state.
Does a low rating mean no disasters?
No. A low rating means lower expected losses compared with other US counties, after accounting for how many people and buildings are exposed and how well the area recovers. Floods and severe storms can happen anywhere, and most flood claims come from outside mapped high-risk zones.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); NOAA Storm Events and HURDAT2; USGS earthquake catalog; OpenFEMA declarations since 1953.