Safest places to live in Illinois
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.
Jersey County has the lowest natural disaster risk of the 57 Illinois counties with 20,000 or more people, followed by McDonough County and Woodford County. At the other end, Cook 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 102 counties ›21,501 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 22 tornadoes since 1950, 18 federal declarations.2McDonough County
27,238 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 44 tornadoes since 1950, 9 federal declarations.3Woodford County
38,455 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 54 tornadoes since 1950, 12 federal declarations.4Monroe County
34,896 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 42 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 18 federal declarations.5Fayette County
21,487 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 27 tornadoes since 1950, 6 federal declarations.6Jo Daviess County
22,021 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 19 tornadoes since 1950, 14 federal declarations.7Shelby County
20,974 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 39 tornadoes since 1950, 8 federal declarations.8Effingham County
34,654 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 30 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 5 federal declarations.9Christian County
33,996 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 62 tornadoes since 1950, 6 federal declarations.10Lee County
34,125 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 39 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 8 federal declarations.
Lowest-risk cities
All cities ›Knox County, 29,481 people2Quincy
Adams County, 39,109 people3Danville
Vermilion County, 28,595 people4DeKalb
DeKalb County, 40,443 people5Decatur
Macon County, 69,815 people6Moline
Rock Island County, 42,197 people7Rock Island
Rock Island County, 36,151 people8Bloomington
McLean County, 78,907 people9Normal
McLean County, 53,569 people10Champaign
Champaign County, 89,996 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. 90 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 22 federal declarations.2DuPage County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 51 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 14 federal declarations.3Will County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 99 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 17 federal declarations.4Lake County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 23 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 15 federal declarations.5St. Clair County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 56 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 17 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 Illinois from natural disasters?
Jersey County has the lowest overall risk score among Illinois 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 Illinois from natural disasters?
Galesburg sits in Knox County, which has the lowest risk score of any Illinois 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 Illinois have the highest disaster risk?
Cook County, DuPage County and Will 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.