Safest places to live in New York
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.
Orleans County has the lowest natural disaster risk of the 60 New York counties with 20,000 or more people, followed by Lewis County and Putnam County. At the other end, Kings 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 62 counties ›40,286 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 1 tornadoes since 1950, 20 federal declarations.2Lewis County
26,548 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 9 tornadoes since 1950, 24 federal declarations.3Putnam County
97,640 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 6 tornadoes since 1950, 7 hurricanes within 65 miles, 25 federal declarations.4Wyoming County
40,510 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 4 tornadoes since 1950, 20 federal declarations.5Schoharie County
29,687 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 3 tornadoes since 1950, 2 hurricanes within 65 miles, 25 federal declarations.6Seneca County
33,805 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 1 tornadoes since 1950, 8 federal declarations.7Yates County
24,764 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 6 tornadoes since 1950, 17 federal declarations.8Fulton County
53,276 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 11 tornadoes since 1950, 14 federal declarations.9Franklin County
47,519 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 2 tornadoes since 1950, 4 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 16 federal declarations.10Cortland County
46,796 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 7 tornadoes since 1950, 15 federal declarations.
Lowest-risk cities
All cities ›Chemung County, 26,257 people2Auburn
Cayuga County, 26,285 people3Schenectady
Schenectady County, 68,847 people4Saratoga Springs
Saratoga County, 28,631 people5Ithaca
Tompkins County, 32,814 people6Troy
Rensselaer County, 51,033 people7Niagara Falls
Niagara County, 47,987 people8North Tonawanda
Niagara County, 30,198 people9Jamestown
Chautauqua County, 28,188 people10Albany
Albany County, 100,492 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. 3 tornadoes since 1950, 8 hurricanes within 65 miles, 20 federal declarations.2Queens County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 5 tornadoes since 1950, 8 hurricanes within 65 miles, 21 federal declarations.3New York County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 1 tornadoes since 1950, 7 hurricanes within 65 miles, 18 federal declarations.4Bronx County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 1 tornadoes since 1950, 7 hurricanes within 65 miles, 16 federal declarations.5Erie County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 27 tornadoes since 1950, 23 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 New York from natural disasters?
Orleans County has the lowest overall risk score among New York 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 New York from natural disasters?
Elmira sits in Chemung County, which has the lowest risk score of any New York 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 New York have the highest disaster risk?
Kings County, Queens County and New York 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.