Ranking

Which states have the most fire departments per resident?

States ranked by fire departments per 100,000 residents (HIFLD counts ÷ 2023 Census population).

Most dense

North Dakota

42.8 depts / 100k

National average

11.3 /100k

across 52 ranked states

States compared

52

population > 500k

Denominator

2023

US Census population

Top 12 states by fire departments per 100,000 residents

Wider bar = more departments relative to population

depts / 100k

What this shows North Dakota leads at 42.8 departments per 100,000 residents, followed by South Dakota (39.7) and Alaska (38.8). Sparsely-populated rural states cluster at the top because fire protection still requires a station within reach of every community, regardless of how few people it serves. The national average is 11.3 per 100,000.

Source HIFLD fire-station registry + US Census 2023 population estimates As of 2023
Key finding

The rural-urban divide is stark: North Dakota fields 42.8 departments per 100,000 residents - about 12.8× the rate of California (3.3), the most populous state. Density reflects geography, not coverage quality: rural states need a station within reach of every small community, while dense states consolidate protection into fewer, much larger departments.

# State Departments Per 100k
1 North Dakota 338 42.8
2 South Dakota 365 39.7
3 Alaska 286 38.8
4 Vermont 250 38.5
5 Arkansas 1,168 38.1
6 Montana 416 36.8
7 Maine 497 35.5
8 West Virginia 511 28.9
9 Wyoming 167 28.5
10 Kansas 773 26.2
11 Oklahoma 1,049 25.8
12 Nebraska 511 25.7
13 Mississippi 751 25.5
14 Alabama 1,302 25.4
15 Iowa 810 25.2
16 Kentucky 981 21.6
17 New Mexico 446 21.0
18 New Hampshire 293 20.9
19 Pennsylvania 2,427 18.6
20 Missouri 1,128 18.2
21 Louisiana 786 17.1
22 Wisconsin 961 16.2
23 Minnesota 883 15.3
24 Idaho 292 14.8
25 North Carolina 1,534 14.1
26 Indiana 969 14.1
27 Tennessee 921 12.9
28 South Carolina 689 12.8
29 Ohio 1,501 12.7
30 Michigan 1,274 12.6
31 Illinois 1,493 11.8
32 Connecticut 418 11.5
33 New York 2,253 11.4
34 Oregon 465 10.9
35 New Jersey 999 10.7
36 Rhode Island 111 10.1
37 Colorado 575 9.7
38 Virginia 766 8.8
39 Massachusetts 568 8.0
40 Utah 271 7.9
41 Georgia 868 7.8
42 Delaware 80 7.7
43 Washington 483 6.1
44 Texas 1,879 6.1
45 Maryland 379 6.1
46 Nevada 156 4.9
47 Arizona 322 4.3
48 California 1,309 3.3
49 Florida 758 3.3
50 Hawaii 43 3.0
51 Puerto Rico 25 0.8
52 District of Columbia 3 0.4

How to read this ranking

Per-capita density normalizes raw department counts against population so a small state with many volunteer companies can be compared fairly against a large state with a few big-city departments. The metric is (departments ÷ population) × 100,000, rounded to one decimal. North Dakota tops the table at 42.8 per 100,000, roughly 3.8x the national average of 11.3.

The country's most populous states sit far lower because dense urban areas consolidate coverage into fewer, larger departments: California records just 3.3 departments per 100,000 (1,309 for 39.20M residents), Texas 6.1, and Florida 3.3. A low per-capita figure is not a coverage gap, it reflects population concentration, not under-protection.

Data & limitations

Department counts come from the Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD) fire-station registry, deduplicated to unique departments. Population is the US Census Bureau's July 1, 2023 state estimate. Only states above 500,000 residents are ranked, to avoid volatile ratios in the smallest jurisdictions. Read the full methodology.

Source: HIFLD fire-station registry (DHS/CISA) and US Census Bureau population estimates (Vintage 2024, POPESTIMATE2023) Per-capita figures computed at request time from live department counts and 2023 Census population.