Summary: Between 2000 and 2023 the US spent an estimated $1490 billion recovering from disasters. The data shows a clear pattern: states with higher poverty rates face more frequent disasters and recover far more slowly. High-poverty counties take 4.7x longer to fully recover than low-poverty ones. Tornadoes hit low-income counties 72% of the time. 2017 remains the worst year on record — Harvey, Irma, and Maria hit in the same season.
Key Findings
Total disaster cost 2000-23
$1490B
Worst year — 2017
$312.7B
Most declarations
Texas (382)
Recovery gap
4.7x slower
Poverty correlation
r=0.34 p=0.096
Tornado — low-income hit %
72%
Charts & Analysis
Annual Disaster Cost 2000-2023
FEMA + NOAA
Poverty vs Disaster Frequency
Does poverty predict more disasters?
Recovery Time by Poverty Level
High-poverty counties take 4.7x longer
State Declaration Rankings
With poverty rates alongside
Disaster Type Impact on Poor
Tornadoes hit low-income counties 72% of the time
5 Most Catastrophic Years
Named events and death toll
Data Source
FEMA OpenFEMA + Census Bureau SAIPE — https://www.fema.gov/about/openfema/api
All data is real, publicly available government data. Free to download and verify independently.