Safest places to live in Vermont
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.
Lamoille County has the lowest natural disaster risk of the 12 Vermont counties with 20,000 or more people, followed by Orange County and Addison County. At the other end, Chittenden 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 14 counties ›25,919 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 3 tornadoes since 1950, 36 federal declarations.2Orange County
29,274 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 4 tornadoes since 1950, 32 federal declarations.3Addison County
37,314 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 5 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 28 federal declarations.4Franklin County
49,919 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 8 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 28 federal declarations.5Caledonia County
30,211 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 1 tornadoes since 1950, 29 federal declarations.6Orleans County
27,365 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 6 tornadoes since 1950, 31 federal declarations.7Rutland County
60,514 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 2 tornadoes since 1950, 20 federal declarations.8Washington County
59,777 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 0 tornadoes since 1950, 31 federal declarations.9Bennington County
37,345 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 6 tornadoes since 1950, 2 hurricanes within 65 miles, 19 federal declarations.10Windham County
45,853 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 5 tornadoes since 1950, 2 hurricanes within 65 miles, 22 federal declarations.
Lowest-risk cities
All cities ›Cities with 25,000 or more people. The rating is for the county the city is in.
Highest-risk counties
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 5 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 30 federal declarations.2Windsor County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 5 tornadoes since 1950, 1 hurricanes within 65 miles, 25 federal declarations.3Windham County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 5 tornadoes since 1950, 2 hurricanes within 65 miles, 22 federal declarations.4Bennington County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 6 tornadoes since 1950, 2 hurricanes within 65 miles, 19 federal declarations.5Washington County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 0 tornadoes since 1950, 31 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 Vermont from natural disasters?
Lamoille County has the lowest overall risk score among Vermont 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 Vermont from natural disasters?
Burlington sits in Chittenden County, which has the lowest risk score of any Vermont 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 Vermont have the highest disaster risk?
Chittenden County, Windsor County and Windham 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.