Storm risk in Dubuque County, Iowa
FEMA's overall hazard score for Dubuque County is 63.58 (Relatively Low), 1,146th of 3,144 counties. Hail scores 89.28 (Relatively Moderate), strong wind 77.64 (Relatively Moderate) and tornado 84.03 (Relatively Moderate). Expected hail loss is $103 per $1 million of buildings a year; NOAA logged 63 hail reports in Dubuque County from 2014 to June 2026.
FEMA National Risk Index, version December 2025, retrieved October 8, 2026. NOAA hail reports 2014 to June 2026.
- Dubuque County, coloured by its FEMA rating
- all U.S. counties
- each county in the state
- U.S. median
- state median
Expected yearly loss per $1 million of buildings, log scale. Dot colour is FEMA’s rating band. The tornado lane counts everything exposed, not only buildings.
How FEMA rates Dubuque County
| Hazard | Rating | Score (0 to 100) | Rank in U.S. | Rank in IA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Relatively Low | 63.58 | 1,146 of 3,144 | 12 of 99 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 89.28 | 338 of 3,126 | 18 of 99 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 77.64 | 704 of 3,126 | 21 of 99 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 84.03 | 503 of 3,126 | 12 of 99 |
Expected yearly loss, in dollars
| Hazard | This county, total a year | Per $1M of buildings | State median county | U.S. median county | Rank per $1M, U.S. | Rank per $1M, state |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | $2,376,423 | $103 | $51 | $22 | 492 of 3,126 | 22 of 99 |
| Strong wind | $850,799 | $37 | $66 | $20 | 1,070 of 3,121 | 88 of 99 |
| Tornado | $8,841,942 | $381 | $417 | $199 | 732 of 3,144 | 57 of 99 |
Rank 1 is the highest. Overall, hail and wind losses count buildings; the tornado row counts everything FEMA exposes, so it overstates building damage. Expected annual loss is an average over many years for the whole county, not a forecast for one roof.
What stands out in Dubuque County
- FEMA expects hail in Dubuque County to cost $103 per $1 million of buildings a year: 4.59 times the U.S. median and 1.99 times the IA county median, ranked 492nd of 3,126 counties nationally and 22nd of 99 in Iowa.
- FEMA expects strong wind in Dubuque County to cost $37 per $1 million of buildings a year: 1.80 times the U.S. median and 0.55 times the IA county median, ranked 1,070th of 3,121 counties nationally and 88th of 99 in Iowa.
- FEMA expects tornado in Dubuque County to cost $381 per $1 million of buildings a year: 1.92 times the U.S. median and 0.91 times the IA county median, ranked 732nd of 3,144 counties nationally and 57th of 99 in Iowa.
- Applying FEMA's estimate to a $226,100 home, the average yearly loss in Dubuque County is about $23 for hail and $8.30 for wind before any deductible; at the U.S. median county rates it would be $5.05 and $4.61.
- If the next years look like 2014 to 2025, a roof kept 20 years in Dubuque County meets about 28.3 hail days of 1 inch or more; the median county in NOAA's file (1,275 counties) would give 35.0.
- Built in 1970, the median home in Dubuque County is 56 years old, so an original roof has outlived a 3-tab shingle (15 to 20 years) and an architectural one (25 to 30 years); 79.2% of its 43,003 homes are at least 26 years old.
- March to June holds 48 of the 63 hail reports in Dubuque County (76 percent); the quietest month is January, with 0 reports.
What hail and wind cost a home here in an average year
Enter a home value. The calculator applies Dubuque County’s own loss rate: the county’s expected yearly loss divided by the value of its buildings. It starts at the Census median home value for the county.
Formula: home value × Dubuque County yearly loss ÷ building value. Hail: $2,376,423 ÷ $23,178,041,898 = 0.0001025. Wind: $850,799 ÷ $23,178,041,898 = 0.0000367. This is FEMA’s estimate of average damage to buildings and does not account for your deductible. Tornado is left out because FEMA’s tornado loss counts people and other exposure, not only buildings.
Read this as a yardstick. The rate is an average over every building in the county, from sheds to office towers, and over many years. Real losses come in rare, large storms; a roof with no damage in 19 years can need full replacement in the 20th. The figure is not a quote and not a prediction for one address.
Dubuque County in plain numbers
- Dubuque County scores 63.58 in FEMA's overall hazard index (Relatively Low): 1,146th of 3,144 rated counties and 12th of 99 in Iowa.
- Hail scores 89.28 (Relatively Moderate). FEMA expects $2,376,423 of hail damage to buildings in Dubuque County a year, which is $103 per $1 million of buildings, 4.59 times the U.S. median.
- Strong wind scores 77.64 (Relatively Moderate) with $850,799 of expected yearly building loss in Dubuque County: $37 per $1 million of buildings, 1.80 times the U.S. median.
- Tornado scores 84.03 (Relatively Moderate) and FEMA's expected yearly tornado loss is $8,841,942, counting everything exposed, or $381 per $1 million of buildings in Dubuque County.
- FEMA's own event record for Dubuque County averages 3.99 hail events and 5.54 strong-wind events a year.
- NOAA logged 63 hail reports in Dubuque County between 2014 and June 2026, on 19 days with stones of 1 inch or more; the largest was 2 inches.
- In Dubuque County, FEMA counts buildings worth 23.18 billion dollars and 99,148 residents.
- Social vulnerability is Very Low in Dubuque County.
- Community resilience there is Very High, for 99,148 residents.
- 1 city in Dubuque County is covered on this site: Dubuque. 12 Census ZIP areas have more than half of their land in the county.
- Our guide range for a 2,000 sq ft asphalt roof in Dubuque is $6,090 to $13,485.
- Dubuque County ranks 36 of the 194 counties with a page here for hail loss per $1 million of buildings, 30 for wind and 44 for tornado.
- In Dubuque County, June is the busiest month with 14 of the 63 reports (22 percent), against 0 reports in December.
- Dubuque County's worst year was 2017, with 3 hail days at 1 inch or more and 13 reports. At the 2014 to 2025 pace that is 1.42 such days a year, one about every 8.5 months.
- The median home in Dubuque County was built in 1970; 63.7% of its 43,003 housing units date from before 1980, 79.2% from before 2000 and 9.4% from 2010 on.
- Census puts the median home value in Dubuque County at $226,100, and 73.2% of homes are lived in by their owners.
- 2,305 single-family building permits were issued in Dubuque County from 2014 to 2025, about 53.6 per 1,000 homes, peaking in 2016.
- NOAA lists 11 tornado tracks in Dubuque County since 2014; the strongest was an EF1 on March 28, 2020 near Sherrill, 3.8 miles long.
- The fastest gust in NOAA's records for Dubuque County is 100 mph on June 30, 2019 at Fillmore.
- The nearest county with a page here is Linn County, 49 miles from the centre of Dubuque County; its hail score is 97.61.
- Across counties the median is one roofing firm for every 5,189 homes; Census counted 11 roofing contractor establishments in Dubuque County in 2023, one for every 3,909 homes.
- FEMA has named Dubuque County in 3 disaster declarations since 2014, the latest 813 days before its data end, and 2 of them were storm-type.
The hail record of Dubuque County, year by year
NOAA logged 63 reports in Dubuque County; hail of 1 inch or more fell on 19 days. That is 1.4 such days a year; the median county in NOAA’s file has 1.8.
- reports
- days with hail of 1 inch or more
- * 2026 runs to June only
Reports by calendar month, all years together. Peak: June, 14 reports.
The same numbers as a table (years with at least one report)
| Year | Reports | Days, 1 inch or more | Days, 1.75 inch or more | Largest stone | Damage reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1.75 in | – |
| 2015 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 in | – |
| 2016 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.88 in | – |
| 2017 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 1.75 in | – |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.88 in | – |
| 2019 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 in | – |
| 2020 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 in | – |
| 2021 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 in | – |
| 2023 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1.75 in | – |
| 2024 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 in | – |
| 2025 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 in | – |
| 2026 (to June) | 11 | 2 | 1 | 2 in | – |
Biggest hail days in Dubuque County
| Date | Largest stone | Reports that day | Damage reported | Near |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 10, 2026 | 2 in | 9 | none recorded | Bernard |
| June 14, 2017 | 1.75 in | 9 | none recorded | Center Grove |
| May 20, 2014 | 1.75 in | 6 | none recorded | Cascade |
| April 19, 2023 | 1.75 in | 5 | none recorded | (Dbq)Dubuque Muni Ar |
| June 17, 2014 | 1.75 in | 3 | none recorded | Key West |
Where large hail was reported
FEMA scores the county as a whole. NOAA’s reports show where inside Dubuque County the big stones fell.
Reported hail locations, Dubuque County
- 381 to 1.74 in
- 111.75 to 2.74 in, golf ball to tennis ball
- 02.75 in and up, baseball
Largest plotted stone: 2 in. Bigger dots are bigger stones.
49 reports of 1 inch or larger have coordinates. Each dot is a reported location, not a storm path.
Sources: NOAA, Census county outlineWind and tornado records for Dubuque County
Fastest gusts in Dubuque County
| Date | Gust | Near |
|---|---|---|
| June 30, 2019 | 100 mph | Fillmore |
| July 15, 2024 | 97 mph | Holy Cross |
| June 22, 2015 | 96 mph | Holy Cross |
| July 15, 2024 | 96 mph | Massey |
Strongest tornado tracks in Dubuque County
| Date | Scale | Length | Injured / killed | Near |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 14, 2026 | EF1 | 3.14 mi | 0 / 0 | (Dbq)Dubuque Muni Ar |
| July 11, 2025 | EF1 | 0.86 mi | 0 / 0 | Bernard |
| June 20, 2021 | EF1 | 1.68 mi | 0 / 0 | Bernard |
| March 28, 2020 | EF1 | 3.8 mi | 0 / 0 | Sherrill |
11 tornado tracks in all since 2014; the strongest 4 are listed.
How old the roofs are
Census counts homes by the decade they were built. Under each bar is the number of hail days of 1 inch or more that an original roof from that decade has met, at Dubuque County’s 2014 to 2025 pace of 1.42 such days a year. Most roofs have been replaced since; the row shows what a roof that never was would have taken.
Bars: share of 43,003 housing units by decade built. Figures under the decade: hail days met by an original roof, at the county’s 2014 to 2025 pace. The pace of earlier years is unknown.
| Median year built | 1970 |
| Built before 1980 | 63.7% |
| Built before 2000 | 79.2% |
| Built since 2010 | 9.4% |
| Owner-occupied | 73.2% |
| Median home value | $226,100 |
| Single-family permits, 2014 to 2025 | 2,305 |
| Permits per 1,000 homes | 53.6 |
Asphalt shingles are rated 15 to 20 years (3-tab) and 25 to 30 years (architectural). Source: Census ACS 2019 to 2023 and Building Permits Survey.
Roofers and past disasters in Dubuque County
Roofing firms in Dubuque County
| Roofing contractor establishments, 2023 | 11 |
| Change since 2016 | +0 (+0%) |
| Homes per roofing firm | 3,909 |
| Median across counties | 5,189 |
| Employees, 2023 | 67 |
Source for Dubuque County: Census County Business Patterns, NAICS 238160.
FEMA disaster declarations naming Dubuque County since 2014
| Declarations naming Dubuque County | 3 |
| Storm / flood / winter / fire | 2 / 1 / 0 / 0 |
| Median IA county | 3 |
| Rank among 67 IA counties | 41 |
| Days from the latest to the data cutoff | 813 |
Source for Dubuque County: OpenFEMA, data to 2026-09-15.
Nearby counties
The closest counties that have a risk page, by distance between county centres. Loss is per $1 million of buildings; the columns marked "times here" divide the neighbour's loss by Dubuque County's.
| County | Miles | Overall | Hail loss | Hail, times here | Wind loss | Wind, times here | NOAA hail reports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linn County, IA | 49 | Relatively Moderate | $109 | 1.06 | $25 | 0.69 | 175 |
| Scott County, IA | 61 | Relatively Moderate | $93 | 0.91 | $22 | 0.61 | 128 |
| Johnson County, IA | 71 | Relatively Moderate | $117 | 1.14 | $172 | 4.70 | 109 |
| Black Hawk County, IA | 76 | Relatively Low | $26 | 0.26 | $26 | 0.70 | 65 |
| Story County, IA | 139 | Relatively Low | $21 | 0.21 | $25 | 0.67 | 153 |
| Pottawattamie County, IA | 258 | Relatively Low | $127 | 1.23 | $55 | 1.50 | 83 |
More Iowa counties, nearest first
- Woodbury County 269 mi
Cities and ZIP areas in Dubuque County
1 city in this county is on PickARoofer. ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are Census shapes that approximate ZIP codes; where we have a city’s ZIPs, the share is the part of each area’s land that lies in this county. 12 such areas have more than half their land here.
| City | ZIP areas (share of land in the county) | Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Dubuque | 52001 (100%), 52003 (100%) | Roofers |
Storm hit your roof in Dubuque County? A free inspection tells you if there is damage. One local roofer answers, not five.
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How high is storm risk in Dubuque County?
FEMA's National Risk Index gives Dubuque County an overall score of 63.58 (Relatively Low), 1,146th of 3,144. Hail scores 89.28 (Relatively Moderate), strong wind 77.64 (Relatively Moderate) and tornado 84.03 (Relatively Moderate).
In Dubuque County, how many hail reports has NOAA logged?
A report is one entry for one storm in one county, so counts follow where people live as well as where hail fell. NOAA has 63 for Dubuque County between 2014 and June 2026, on 19 days with hail of 1 inch or more; the largest stone was 2 inches.
What do hail and wind cost a home in Dubuque County each year, on average?
Applying FEMA's county rates to its median home value of $226,100: FEMA's estimate is about $23 a year for hail and $8.30 for wind, before any deductible, against $5.05 and $4.61 at the U.S. median county rates. This is an average over many years and all buildings, not a prediction for one roof; one bad storm costs far more than the average year.
How does Dubuque County compare with the rest of Iowa?
Per $1 million of buildings Dubuque County loses $103 to hail a year, against $51 in the median county of the state. Among 99 rated counties it is 18th for hail, 21st for strong wind and 12th for tornado.
How old are the roofs in Dubuque County?
The median home was built in 1970, 56 years ago, and 79.2% of the 43,003 housing units in Dubuque County date from before 2000. Asphalt shingles are rated 15 to 20 years (3-tab) or 25 to 30 years (architectural), so an original roof of either kind is past its rated life. The Census does not record when a roof was replaced.
What does expected annual loss mean?
It is FEMA's estimate of the average yearly loss from a hazard, in dollars, summed over the county. It is built for comparing counties at planning level, not for pricing one house.
Does a high rating mean my roof will be damaged?
No. The index compares counties and cannot say what will happen on your street. After a storm, a roof inspection is the only way to know.
Sources for Dubuque County: FEMA National Risk Index, version December 2025, retrieved October 8, 2026; NOAA Storm Events Database hail reports for Dubuque County; Census Bureau ZCTA-to-county relationship file (2020); Census ACS and Building Permits Survey, homes in Dubuque County; Census County Business Patterns, roofing firms in Dubuque County; OpenFEMA, declarations naming Dubuque County. Planning-level information about Dubuque County, not an inspection and not insurance advice.
This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).