How natural-disaster risk should affect where you live

CityLivably Editorial Team · Built on World Bank, WorldClim, USGS and FEMA/INFORM open data · Updated 2026

Earthquakes, floods, storms and wildfires shape insurance cost, property value and safety. Most relocation guides ignore them. Here's how to factor them in.

Before you move, check a city's exposure to earthquakes (USGS), flooding, storms, wildfire and extreme heat. High-risk locations mean higher home-insurance premiums and real safety trade-offs — we score every city's disaster safety 0–100.

Safest cities

Punta del Este, Uruguay — safety 73/100, main risk flooding
Maldonado, Uruguay — safety 73/100, main risk flooding
Dundalk, Ireland — safety 73/100, main risk flooding
Rouen, France — safety 72/100, main risk flooding
Hillerød, Denmark — safety 72/100, main risk extreme cold / winter
Maardu, Estonia — safety 72/100, main risk extreme cold / winter
Viljandi, Estonia — safety 72/100, main risk extreme cold / winter
Hobart, Australia — safety 71/100, main risk flooding
Viborg, Denmark — safety 71/100, main risk extreme cold / winter
Frederiksberg, Denmark — safety 71/100, main risk extreme cold / winter
Sarpsborg, Norway — safety 71/100, main risk extreme cold / winter
Punta Arenas, Chile — safety 71/100, main risk extreme cold / winter
Nõmme, Estonia — safety 71/100, main risk extreme cold / winter
Alytus, Lithuania — safety 71/100, main risk extreme cold / winter
Marijampolė, Lithuania — safety 71/100, main risk extreme cold / winter
Utena, Lithuania — safety 71/100, main risk extreme cold / winter
Valmiera, Latvia — safety 71/100, main risk extreme cold / winter
Rēzekne, Latvia — safety 71/100, main risk extreme cold / winter
Narva, Estonia — safety 71/100, main risk extreme cold / winter
Kohtla-Järve, Estonia — safety 71/100, main risk extreme cold / winter
Melo, Uruguay — safety 70/100, main risk flooding
Mercedes, Uruguay — safety 70/100, main risk flooding
Galway, Ireland — safety 70/100, main risk flooding
Swords, Ireland — safety 70/100, main risk flooding

Why it matters for cost too

Disaster risk isn't just safety — it drives home-insurance premiums and long-term property value. A cheap city in a flood or earthquake zone can cost more once you price in insurance and risk.

How we measure it

We count real historical earthquakes near each city (USGS), add flood/storm/wildfire exposure and extreme-heat days, and combine with crime data into a safety score. See the safest cities.

Why these numbers are trustworthy

Every figure on this page is reproducible from open, citable sources rather than crowd-sourced guesses: cost from the World Bank price level (PPP ÷ exchange rate), climate from WorldClim v2.1 temperature normals, earthquakes from real USGS event history, and flood, storm, wildfire, heat, drought, cold and tsunami exposure modelled from each city's geography. We score 1,103 cities across 68 countries on the same 0–100 scales, so comparisons are like-for-like. The numbers are planning indicators, not promises — verify rent, visas, healthcare and tax for your own situation before you move, and treat the modelled hazard tiers as a relative guide between cities rather than an absolute forecast.