Safest places to live in Texas
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.
Lampasas County has the lowest natural disaster risk of the 118 Texas counties with 20,000 or more people, followed by Titus County and Cass County. At the other end, Harris 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 254 counties ›21,627 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 15 tornadoes since 1950, 17 federal declarations.2Titus County
31,242 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 26 tornadoes since 1950, 19 federal declarations.3Cass County
28,400 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 71 tornadoes since 1950, 26 federal declarations.4Hockley County
21,365 people. Top hazard: Hail. 76 tornadoes since 1950, 14 federal declarations.5Chambers County
46,507 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 33 tornadoes since 1950, 24 hurricanes within 65 miles, 20 federal declarations.6Austin County
30,013 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 27 tornadoes since 1950, 14 hurricanes within 65 miles, 22 federal declarations.7Rusk County
52,076 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 71 tornadoes since 1950, 24 federal declarations.8Howard County
34,838 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 54 tornadoes since 1950, 2 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 18 federal declarations.9Palo Pinto County
28,396 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 48 tornadoes since 1950, 25 federal declarations.10Panola County
22,480 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 51 tornadoes since 1950, 21 federal declarations.
Lowest-risk cities
All cities ›Maverick County, 28,339 people2Rockwall
Rockwall County, 51,168 people3Lufkin
Angelina County, 34,251 people4Huntsville
Walker County, 47,864 people5Corsicana
Navarro County, 25,511 people6Del Rio
Val Verde County, 34,668 people7Forney
Kaufman County, 31,532 people8San Angelo
Tom Green County, 99,674 people9Texarkana
Bowie County, 35,992 people10Sherman
Grayson County, 46,397 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. 254 tornadoes since 1950, 22 hurricanes within 65 miles, 39 federal declarations.2Dallas County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 109 tornadoes since 1950, 25 federal declarations.3Bexar County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 74 tornadoes since 1950, 2 hurricanes within 65 miles, 30 federal declarations.4Tarrant County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 110 tornadoes since 1950, 25 federal declarations.5Hidalgo County
Top hazard: Hurricane. 43 tornadoes since 1950, 14 hurricanes within 65 miles, 30 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 Texas from natural disasters?
Lampasas County has the lowest overall risk score among Texas 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 Texas from natural disasters?
Eagle Pass sits in Maverick County, which has the lowest risk score of any Texas 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 Texas have the highest disaster risk?
Harris County, Dallas County and Bexar 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.