North Carolina

Data confidence: moderate (75/100)

Overall Fireground Index

Higher score = lower civilian fire-death rate.

Fire-death rate (5-year): 1.22; per 100,000 residents / yr
Civilian fire deaths: 672; 2020-2024 total
Population: 11,046,024; U.S. Census (2024)
Public sources: 2; 3 metrics used · 4 unavailable

Every value is drawn from an authoritative public source. The Overall score normalizes the one fire metric that is genuinely comparable across all counties — the civilian fire-death rate (North Carolina State Fire Marshal counts, per Census population). Where counties publish incident/response figures, we show them as sourced context; where no public source exists, we say so. Data Confidence reflects how much verifiable public evidence backs each county.

County-equivalents

100

100 counties

Confidence mix

0·93·7

high · moderate · limited

With incident data

counties publishing responses

County rankings

North Carolina counties by Overall Fireground Index

Ranked by the normalized civilian fire-death rate — the one comparable metric. Confidence flags where small counts or sparse reporting make a county's profile less certain. Select a county for its full evidence profile.

North Carolina counties ranked by Overall Fireground Index, with fire-death rate, five-year deaths, and data confidence.
Rank	County	Index	Fire-death rate	Deaths (5yr)	Confidence
1	Clay County12,042 pop.	74	0.00	0	limited
2	Hyde County4,583 pop.	74	0.00	0	limited
3	Jones County9,462 pop.	74	0.00	0	limited
4	Mitchell County15,030 pop.	74	0.00	0	limited
5	Perquimans County13,460 pop.	74	0.00	0	limited
6	Transylvania County34,103 pop.	74	0.00	0	limited
7	Tyrrell County3,517 pop.	74	0.00	0	limited
8	New Hanover County243,333 pop.	73	0.08	1	moderate
9	Chatham County83,874 pop.	71	0.24	1	moderate
10	Davie County45,383 pop.	68	0.44	1	moderate
11	Durham County343,628 pop.	68	0.47	8	moderate
12	Richmond County41,990 pop.	68	0.48	1	moderate
13	Wake County1,232,444 pop.	68	0.44	27	moderate
14	Franklin County79,771 pop.	67	0.50	2	moderate
15	Mecklenburg County1,206,285 pop.	66	0.60	36	moderate
16	Scotland County33,898 pop.	66	0.59	1	moderate
17	Gaston County242,010 pop.	65	0.66	8	moderate
18	Johnston County249,794 pop.	65	0.64	8	moderate
19	Brunswick County167,112 pop.	64	0.72	6	moderate
20	Cabarrus County244,925 pop.	64	0.73	9	moderate
21	Cleveland County102,194 pop.	64	0.78	4	moderate
22	Hoke County55,382 pop.	64	0.72	2	moderate
23	Onslow County212,954 pop.	64	0.75	8	moderate
24	Halifax County46,992 pop.	63	0.85	2	moderate
25	Pender County70,077 pop.	63	0.86	3	moderate

Full rankings (100) →

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.

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