Howard County
Ranks 3rd of 24 Maryland county-equivalents.
Higher score = lower civilian fire-death rate.
- Fire-death rate (2020-2024)
- 0.47
- per 100,000 residents / yr
- Civilian fire deaths
- 8
- 2020-2024 total
- Population
- 339,668
- U.S. Census (2024)
- Public sources
- 3
- 4 metrics used · 3 unavailable
Evidence profile
Each metric below is either drawn from a cited public source or explicitly marked unavailable. Nothing is estimated or invented.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 339,668 | U.S. Census Bureau — Population Estimates Program (PEP), Vintage 2024 (July 1, 2024) (2024) (opens in a new tab) |
| Civilian fire deaths (2020-2024) | 8 (2020-2024) | Maryland Office of the State Fire Marshal — 2024 Annual Fire Fatality Report — County Totals 2020-2024 (2024) (opens in a new tab) Civilian fire deaths from the MD State Fire Marshal fatality report. |
| Civilian fire deaths per 100,000 (5-yr avg annual) | 0.47 per 100kscored | Maryland Office of the State Fire Marshal — 2024 Annual Fire Fatality Report — County Totals 2020-2024 (2024) (opens in a new tab) Average annual civilian fire deaths per 100,000, computed from OSFM deaths ÷ Census population. |
| Fire/EMS incident responses | 44,018context | Howard County Dept. of Fire and Rescue Services — 2024 Annual Report (2024) (opens in a new tab) Total calls for service (fire + EMS), 2024. Definitions differ by county — shown as context, not compared. |
| Civilian fire injuries | Data not publicly available | Data not publicly available. No authoritative per-county public dataset; NFIRS is not published as county totals and NFPA publishes only national estimates. (investigated: NFIRS/USFA, NFPA, county annual reports) |
| Firefighter injuries | Data not publicly available | Data not publicly available. Only national NFPA survey estimates exist; not published per county. (investigated: NFPA, USFA, county annual reports) |
| Fire dollar loss | Data not publicly available | Data not publicly available. Not itemized per county in public reports; requires NFIRS raw data or a records request. (investigated: NFIRS/USFA, county annual reports) |
Data confidence
Confidence reflects source authority, how many public metrics exist, and how statistically reliable the outcome data is — not whether this county reports like any other.
- Population (U.S. Census) and civilian fire deaths (MD State Fire Marshal) are both from authoritative public sources.
- An additional public incident/response figure is available from the county fire department.
- A moderate five-year fire-death count (8) supports a reasonably stable rate.
Fire-death trend
Published civilian fire deaths by year, 2020-2024. Counts are small, so read alongside Data Confidence.
Civilian fire deaths by year
MD State Fire Marshal · 2020-2024Civilian fire deaths by year — 2020: 0, 2021: 1, 2022: 3, 2023: 2, 2024: 2.
8 civilian fire deaths over five years. Annual counts are small, so a single event can shift a year materially — this is reflected in Data Confidence.
Related counties
The Maryland county-equivalents nearest in population — a like-for-like basis for comparison.
This public scorecard is free and fully sourced. Fireground Analytics is the premium, department-level product — risk-adjusted benchmarking, grant intelligence, and the operational analysis behind these public indicators.
Explore Fireground Analytics (opens in a new tab)Built from public data. See the methodology and data sources.