---
title: Rio Arriba, NM — natural hazard risk profile & national ranking
source: FEMA National Risk Index (county-level)
sourceUrl: https://hazards.fema.gov/nri/
fips: 35039
---

# Rio Arriba, NM

New Mexico · pop. 40,200 · FIPS 35039

**FEMA risk rating: Relatively Low** · dominant hazard: Wildfire · modeled expected annual loss $27M/yr

These risk dimensions are FEMA/CDC MODELS (a rating, not records of disasters); population is a recorded census figure.

## Where Rio Arriba ranks among 3,232 U.S. counties

Each rank is COMPUTED — the county's modeled score placed within the national distribution. A rank within a model, not within observed disasters.

| Dimension | This county | National rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| FEMA risk index | 80.5 | ≈ 80th pct — higher than 80% of counties (national median 50.02, n=3,144) |
| Expected annual loss | $27M | ≈ 8th pct — among the lowest nationally (national median $15M, n=3,232) |
| Social vulnerability | 91.7 | ≈ 92nd pct — among the highest nationally (national median 50.03, n=3,144) |
| Community resilience | 9.35 | ≈ 9th pct — among the lowest nationally (national median 50.02, n=3,144) |

## Realized flood losses in Rio Arriba (RECORDED — NFIP claims)

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid **31** flood-insurance claims totaling **$329,388** in Rio Arriba since 1980. The costliest year of loss was **2013** ($185,683 paid).

| Metric | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Total claims paid | $329,388 |
| Claims | 31 |
| Average claim | $10,625 |
| Largest single claim | $172,185 |
| Claims since 2000 | 22 |
| In high-risk flood zones (A/V) | 61% |

These are **RECORDED** actual paid NFIP claims (a redacted census from OpenFEMA), not a model — the realized counterpart to the FEMA risk score above. **Scope:** flood-*insurance* claims UNDERCOUNT flooding where owners were uninsured ("what NFIP paid," not "every flood"); county-level totals, not a per-property verdict. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v2 (`src:openfema:nfip-claims-v2:2026`). Verify an address and buy coverage at https://www.floodsmart.gov/.

## What this is — and is NOT (interpretation)

This is FEMA/CDC **modeled** hazard exposure for Rio Arriba, NM and its national rank. It is **not** a verdict on whether Rio Arriba is a good or bad place to live (hazard exposure is not place quality), **not** a per-property or per-address assessment, **not** a prediction of any specific disaster, and **not** insurance advice. For site-specific risk use a per-property assessment; for the model see https://hazards.fema.gov/nri/.

---

Structured data (JSON-LD), with each figure's status labeled: `/property/counties/35039.jsonld`