2025’s Most Vulnerable Cities for House Fires

House fires are unpredictable and can happen anywhere — but which cities are most vulnerable when disaster strikes?

With most residential heating fires occurring between December and February, Home Gnome ranked 2025’s Most Vulnerable Cities for House Fires.

We compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on 5 categories measuring fire safety. More specifically, we looked at home fire risk, access to career and volunteer firefighters, and the percentage of homes using gas for heating, among 27 total metrics.

Explore our ranking below. To learn how we ranked the cities, see our methodology.

In This Article

• Quick Stats
• City Rankings
• The Most Vulnerable Cities for House Fires
• The Least Vulnerable Cities for House Fires
• Professional Take
• Behind the Ranking
• Fire Safety at Home

Quick Stats

• Few Fighting Resources: California suburbs like Pomona (No. 1), Santa Clarita (No. 10), and Fontana (No. 20) have high home fire risk according to DataKind DC, on top of significant drought and wildfire risk. These 3 cities also have the fewest fire stations, career firefighters, and volunteer firefighters per 100,000 residents.

• Old Homes and Gas Heat: Cities with old homes like Buffalo, New York (No. 77), Paterson, New Jersey (No. 12), and Detroit (No. 2) also have larger percentages of residences using gas for heating, increasing the risk of a house fire.

• Cities Safer from Home Fires: Bottom-ranking cities like Sacramento, California (No. 200), and Pittsburgh (No. 199) are far from fireproof, but they land on the safer side with better access to fire stations and career or volunteer firefighters. 

City Rankings

See how each city fared in our ranking:

The 5 Most Vulnerable Cities for House Fires

• Pomona, California (No. 1), has moderately high home fire and drought risk, and the 12th-highest wildfire risk out of the cities in our ranking. Pomona lacks fireproofing companies, chimney sweeps, and home repair services, and also ties with 24 California cities with the worst traffic congestion.

• Detroit (No. 2) faces the highest home fire risk in our ranking, with a high prevalence of home fires over 5 years and residences lacking fire alarms. Detroit homes have a median age of 76 years and 84% use gas for heating. Detroit also has the 5th-highest rate of house fire fatalities, with 45 deaths between Jan. 2020 and Dec. 2023.

• Nebraska cities — Omaha (No. 24) and Lincoln (No. 93) — tie for having the most expensive fire insurance at $2,782. Nebraska has notoriously high insurance premiums due to being located in Tornado Alley and facing increasing wildfire risk. 

The Least Vulnerable Cities for House Fires

• Despite having the 2nd-highest drought risk, Sacramento, California (No. 200), lands on the safer end of our ranking with the most fire stations per 100,000 residents and career firefighters per 100,000 households.

• Alexandria, Virginia (No. 196), has the lowest home fire risk and drought risk. Port City is home to few smokers — 13.3% of residents — and has among the lowest risk of wildfire.

• Pittsburgh (No. 199) has 988 volunteer firefighters per 100,000 households, claiming the best access out of all cities in our ranking. That’s 2X more than the city with the 2nd-best rate of volunteer firefighters, Syracuse, New York (No. 118) with 449 per 100,000 households.

• New York (No. 162) is home to the most fire alarm system companies, 142, and fire protection services, 81. 

• Texas cities Houston (No. 185) and San Antonio (No. 149) have the best access to home repair services.

• Fire insurance is least expensive in Honolulu (No. 197), where homeowners pay an average of $254 per year.

Behind the Ranking

First, we determined the factors (metrics) that are most relevant to rank the Most Vulnerable Cities for House Fires. We then assigned a weight to each factor based on its importance and grouped those factors into 5 categories:

Fire Risk Rank	Fire Prevention & Protection Services Rank	Fire Response & Recovery Rank
Housing Characteristics Rank	Demographic Vulnerability Rank

The categories, factors, and their weights are listed in the table below.

For each of the 200 biggest U.S. cities, we then gathered data on each factor from the sources listed below the table.

Finally, we calculated scores (out of 100 points) for each city to determine its rank in each factor, each category, and overall. A city’s Overall Score is the average of its scores across all factors and categories. The highest Overall Score ranked “Most Vulnerable” (No. 1) and the lowest “Least Vulnerable” (No. 200).

Note:

• The “Least Vulnerable” among individual factors may not be No. 200 due to ties.
• Source data may not reflect all fire stations and firefighters available in U.S. cities.

Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DataKind DC, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Forbes, Kidde, The Real Yellow Pages, Redfin, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Fire Administration, and Yelp

Fire Safety at Home

From watching a palm tree get struck by lightning and burn down in my neighborhood in Texas to my dad’s lawn mower bursting into flames back home in Virginia, I know firsthand that fire is unpredictable.

Cooking is the leading cause of house fires in the U.S., generating over 178,000 residential fires in 2022. Keep your family safe while staying warm with the expert advice above. Take inventory of your home fire protection system before hosting a gathering.

• Check the expiration date on your fire extinguisher(s) and recharge or replace them if necessary.

• Inspect and test your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors monthly.

• Make a home fire escape plan and teach children what to do in the event of a fire. Practice with an at-home fire drill. 

• Schedule a chimney inspection and have it cleaned once per year to prevent chimney fires. 

• Place ashtrays in convenient places for smokers to use if smoking is permitted at your residence. 

• Don’t leave lit candles, fireplaces, ovens, stoves, grills, or any open flame unattended. 

• Maintain your home heating system(s).

• Take the Red Cross Fire Safety Quiz to test your home fire preparedness. 

About Home Gnome: Home Gnome is where you’ll find all sorts of DIY and professional help for projects around your house, rental, or apartment.

Media Resources

• High-resolution images of cities

Main Photo Credit: STUEDAL / Adobe Stock / License