Safest places to live in Utah
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.
Uintah County has the lowest natural disaster risk of the 15 Utah counties with 20,000 or more people, followed by Carbon County and Sevier County. At the other end, Salt Lake County carries the highest risk in the state, mostly from earthquake. 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 29 counties ›35,592 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 8 tornadoes since 1950, 6 federal declarations.2Carbon County
20,381 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 2 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 3 federal declarations.3Sevier County
21,466 people. Top hazard: Earthquake. 2 tornadoes since 1950, 4 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 7 federal declarations.4Wasatch County
34,769 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 1 tornadoes since 1950, 3 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 9 federal declarations.5Sanpete County
28,408 people. Top hazard: Avalanche. 10 tornadoes since 1950, 4 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 8 federal declarations.6Tooele County
72,600 people. Top hazard: Wildfire. 5 tornadoes since 1950, 9 federal declarations.7Box Elder County
57,579 people. Top hazard: Earthquake. 10 tornadoes since 1950, 8 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 7 federal declarations.8Summit County
42,322 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 0 tornadoes since 1950, 3 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 8 federal declarations.9Iron County
57,174 people. Top hazard: Wildfire. 5 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 5 federal declarations.10Cache County
133,078 people. Top hazard: Earthquake. 5 tornadoes since 1950, 9 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 5 federal declarations.
Lowest-risk cities
All cities ›Tooele County, 38,405 people2Cedar City
Iron County, 38,524 people3Logan
Cache County, 54,907 people4Ogden
Weber County, 87,413 people5Roy
Weber County, 38,993 people6Layton
Davis County, 83,286 people7Bountiful
Davis County, 45,023 people8Syracuse
Davis County, 35,488 people9Clearfield
Davis County, 33,523 people10Kaysville
Davis County, 33,053 people
Cities with 25,000 or more people. The rating is for the county the city is in.
Highest-risk counties
Top hazard: Earthquake. 14 tornadoes since 1950, 3 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 10 federal declarations.2Utah County
Top hazard: Earthquake. 10 tornadoes since 1950, 5 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 11 federal declarations.3Washington County
Top hazard: Wildfire. 4 tornadoes since 1950, 5 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 12 federal declarations.4Davis County
Top hazard: Earthquake. 11 tornadoes since 1950, 8 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 9 federal declarations.5Weber County
Top hazard: Earthquake. 8 tornadoes since 1950, 10 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 9 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 Utah from natural disasters?
Uintah County has the lowest overall risk score among Utah 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 Utah from natural disasters?
Tooele sits in Tooele County, which has the lowest risk score of any Utah 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 Utah have the highest disaster risk?
Salt Lake County, Utah County and Washington 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.