Storm risk in Bell County, Texas
FEMA's overall hazard score for Bell County is 91.13 (Relatively Moderate), 280th of 3,144 counties. Hail scores 98.63 (Relatively High), strong wind 77.19 (Relatively Moderate) and tornado 98.57 (Relatively High). Expected hail loss is $144 per $1 million of buildings a year; NOAA logged 145 hail reports in Bell County from 2014 to June 2026.
FEMA National Risk Index, version December 2025, retrieved October 8, 2026. NOAA hail reports 2014 to June 2026.
- Bell 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 Bell County
| Hazard | Rating | Score (0 to 100) | Rank in U.S. | Rank in TX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Relatively Moderate | 91.13 | 280 of 3,144 | 21 of 254 |
| Hail | Relatively High | 98.63 | 44 of 3,126 | 17 of 254 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 77.19 | 718 of 3,126 | 53 of 254 |
| Tornado | Relatively High | 98.57 | 46 of 3,126 | 12 of 254 |
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 | $8,945,567 | $144 | $85 | $22 | 324 of 3,126 | 76 of 254 |
| Strong wind | $572,451 | $9.20 | $26 | $20 | 2,272 of 3,121 | 212 of 254 |
| Tornado | $32,362,257 | $520 | $269 | $199 | 376 of 3,144 | 43 of 254 |
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 Bell County
- FEMA expects hail in Bell County to cost $144 per $1 million of buildings a year: 6.43 times the U.S. median and 1.69 times the TX county median, ranked 324th of 3,126 counties nationally and 76th of 254 in Texas.
- FEMA expects strong wind in Bell County to cost $9.20 per $1 million of buildings a year: 0.45 times the U.S. median and 0.35 times the TX county median, ranked 2,272nd of 3,121 counties nationally and 212th of 254 in Texas.
- FEMA expects tornado in Bell County to cost $520 per $1 million of buildings a year: 2.61 times the U.S. median and 1.93 times the TX county median, ranked 376th of 3,144 counties nationally and 43rd of 254 in Texas.
- Applying FEMA's estimate to a $221,100 home, the average yearly loss in Bell County is about $32 for hail and $2.03 for wind before any deductible; at the U.S. median county rates it would be $4.94 and $4.50.
- If the next years look like 2014 to 2025, a roof kept 20 years in Bell County meets about 70.0 hail days of 1 inch or more; the median county in NOAA's file (1,275 counties) would give 35.0.
- Built in 1995, the median home in Bell County is 31 years old, so an original roof has outlived a 3-tab shingle (15 to 20 years) and an architectural one (25 to 30 years); 57.5% of its 151,858 homes are at least 26 years old.
- March to June holds 132 of the 145 hail reports in Bell County (91 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 Bell 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 × Bell County yearly loss ÷ building value. Hail: $8,945,567 ÷ $62,242,034,130 = 0.0001437. Wind: $572,451 ÷ $62,242,034,130 = 0.0000092. 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.
Bell County in plain numbers
- Bell County scores 91.13 in FEMA's overall hazard index (Relatively Moderate): 280th of 3,144 rated counties and 21st of 254 in Texas.
- Hail scores 98.63 (Relatively High). FEMA expects $8,945,567 of hail damage to buildings in Bell County a year, which is $144 per $1 million of buildings, 6.43 times the U.S. median.
- Strong wind scores 77.19 (Relatively Moderate) with $572,451 of expected yearly building loss in Bell County: $9.20 per $1 million of buildings, 0.45 times the U.S. median.
- Tornado scores 98.57 (Relatively High) and FEMA's expected yearly tornado loss is $32,362,257, counting everything exposed, or $520 per $1 million of buildings in Bell County.
- FEMA's own event record for Bell County averages 4.16 hail events and 1.76 strong-wind events a year.
- NOAA logged 145 hail reports in Bell County between 2014 and June 2026, on 43 days with stones of 1 inch or more; the largest was 5.68 inches.
- In Bell County, FEMA counts buildings worth 62.24 billion dollars and 369,846 residents.
- Social vulnerability is Relatively Low in Bell County.
- Community resilience there is Relatively High, for 369,846 residents.
- 2 cities in Bell County are covered on this site: Killeen, Temple. 16 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 Killeen is $6,510 to $14,415.
- Bell County ranks 21 of the 194 counties with a page here for hail loss per $1 million of buildings, 113 for wind and 21 for tornado.
- In Bell County, April is the busiest month with 69 of the 145 reports (48 percent), against 4 reports in October.
- Bell County's worst year was 2023, with 8 hail days at 1 inch or more and 16 reports. At the 2014 to 2025 pace that is 3.50 such days a year, one about every 3.4 months.
- The median home in Bell County was built in 1995; 28.5% of its 151,858 housing units date from before 1980, 57.5% from before 2000 and 22.3% from 2010 on.
- Census puts the median home value in Bell County at $221,100, and 56.2% of homes are lived in by their owners.
- 25,009 single-family building permits were issued in Bell County from 2014 to 2025, about 164.7 per 1,000 homes, peaking in 2024.
- NOAA lists 9 tornado tracks in Bell County since 2014; the strongest was an EF3 on April 12, 2022 near Youngsport, 13.01 miles long.
- The fastest gust in NOAA's records for Bell County is 100 mph on May 22, 2024 at Midway.
- The nearest county with a page here is McLennan County, 40 miles from the centre of Bell County; its hail score is 89.98.
- Across counties the median is one roofing firm for every 5,189 homes; Census counted 22 roofing contractor establishments in Bell County in 2023, one for every 6,903 homes.
- FEMA has named Bell County in 3 disaster declarations since 2014, the latest 851 days before its data end, and 0 of them were storm-type.
The hail record of Bell County, year by year
NOAA logged 145 reports in Bell County; hail of 1 inch or more fell on 43 days. That is 3.5 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: April, 69 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 | 20 | 3 | 2 | 4.25 in | $194,000 |
| 2015 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 in | – |
| 2016 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 in | $90,000 |
| 2017 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1.75 in | $80,000 |
| 2018 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 in | – |
| 2019 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 in | $10,000 |
| 2020 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2.5 in | – |
| 2021 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1.75 in | $100,000 |
| 2022 | 36 | 3 | 3 | 5.68 in | $2,035,000 |
| 2023 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 1.75 in | $135,000 |
| 2024 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 2.75 in | $664,000 |
| 2025 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1.5 in | – |
| 2026 (to June) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.5 in | – |
Biggest hail days in Bell County
| Date | Largest stone | Reports that day | Damage reported | Near |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 12, 2022 | 5.68 in | 24 | $1,975,000 | Salado |
| March 28, 2014 | 4.25 in | 10 | $174,000 | Belton |
| April 9, 2024 | 2.75 in | 4 | $500,000 | Salado |
| May 24, 2020 | 2.5 in | 3 | none recorded | Smith |
| May 12, 2024 | 2 in | 7 | $34,000 | Temple |
Where large hail was reported
FEMA scores the county as a whole. NOAA’s reports show where inside Bell County the big stones fell.
Reported hail locations, Bell County
- 801 to 1.74 in
- 351.75 to 2.74 in, golf ball to tennis ball
- 62.75 in and up, baseball
Largest plotted stone: 5.68 in. Bigger dots are bigger stones.
121 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 Bell County
Fastest gusts in Bell County
| Date | Gust | Near |
|---|---|---|
| May 22, 2024 | 100 mph | Midway |
| May 22, 2024 | 81 mph | Temple |
| May 26, 2025 | 81 mph | Holland |
| April 28, 2023 | 76 mph | Bland |
Strongest tornado tracks in Bell County
| Date | Scale | Length | Injured / killed | Near |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 12, 2022 | EF3 | 13.01 mi | 23 / 0 | Youngsport |
| May 22, 2024 | EF2 | 2.78 mi | 30 / 0 | (Tpl)Temple Muni Arp |
| May 22, 2024 | EF1 | 2.2 mi | 0 / 0 | Heidenheimer |
| April 28, 2023 | EF1 | 14.84 mi | 2 / 0 | Hood Afb |
9 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 Bell County’s 2014 to 2025 pace of 3.50 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 151,858 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 | 1995 |
| Built before 1980 | 28.5% |
| Built before 2000 | 57.5% |
| Built since 2010 | 22.3% |
| Owner-occupied | 56.2% |
| Median home value | $221,100 |
| Single-family permits, 2014 to 2025 | 25,009 |
| Permits per 1,000 homes | 164.7 |
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 Bell County
Roofing firms in Bell County
| Roofing contractor establishments, 2023 | 22 |
| Change since 2016 | +14 (+175%) |
| Homes per roofing firm | 6,903 |
| Median across counties | 5,189 |
| Employees, 2023 | 95 |
Source for Bell County: Census County Business Patterns, NAICS 238160. Full roofing-market page for Bell County.
FEMA disaster declarations naming Bell County since 2014
| Declarations naming Bell County | 3 |
| Storm / flood / winter / fire | 0 / 1 / 2 / 0 |
| Median TX county | 4 |
| Rank among 174 TX counties | 114 |
| Days from the latest to the data cutoff | 851 |
Source for Bell 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 Bell County's.
| County | Miles | Overall | Hail loss | Hail, times here | Wind loss | Wind, times here | NOAA hail reports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McLennan County, TX | 40 | Relatively Moderate | $20 | 0.14 | $8.67 | 0.94 | 137 |
| Brazos County, TX | 73 | Relatively Moderate | $33 | 0.23 | $7.79 | 0.85 | 85 |
| Tarrant County, TX | 120 | Relatively High | $314 | 2.19 | $1.55 | 0.17 | 541 |
| Harris County, TX | 148 | Very High | $1.84 | 0.01 | $4.51 | 0.49 | 169 |
| Victoria County, TX | 158 | Relatively Moderate | $9.22 | 0.06 | $9.99 | 1.09 | 12 |
| Smith County, TX | 160 | Relatively Moderate | $22 | 0.15 | $3.21 | 0.35 | 131 |
More Texas counties, nearest first
- Taylor County 166 mi
- Gregg County 189 mi
- Tom Green County 191 mi
- Jefferson County 215 mi
- Bowie County 247 mi
- Webb County 258 mi
- Midland County 274 mi
- Ector County 303 mi
- Lubbock County 309 mi
- Hidalgo County 323 mi
- Cameron County 339 mi
- Potter County 395 mi
Cities and ZIP areas in Bell County
2 cities in this county are 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. 16 such areas have more than half their land here.
| City | ZIP areas (share of land in the county) | Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Killeen | 76541 (100%), 76542 (100%), 76543 (100%), 76544 (21%) | Roofers |
| Temple | 76502 (100%), 76528 (2%), 76549 (88%), 76539 (5%) | Roofers |
Storm hit your roof in Bell 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 Bell County?
FEMA's National Risk Index gives Bell County an overall score of 91.13 (Relatively Moderate), 280th of 3,144. Hail scores 98.63 (Relatively High), strong wind 77.19 (Relatively Moderate) and tornado 98.57 (Relatively High).
In Bell 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 145 for Bell County between 2014 and June 2026, on 43 days with hail of 1 inch or more; the largest stone was 5.68 inches.
What do hail and wind cost a home in Bell County each year, on average?
Applying FEMA's county rates to its median home value of $221,100: FEMA's estimate is about $32 a year for hail and $2.03 for wind, before any deductible, against $4.94 and $4.50 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 Bell County compare with the rest of Texas?
Per $1 million of buildings Bell County loses $144 to hail a year, against $85 in the median county of the state. Among 254 rated counties it is 17th for hail, 53rd for strong wind and 12th for tornado.
How old are the roofs in Bell County?
The median home was built in 1995, 31 years ago, and 57.5% of the 151,858 housing units in Bell 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 Bell County: FEMA National Risk Index, version December 2025, retrieved October 8, 2026; NOAA Storm Events Database hail reports for Bell County; Census Bureau ZCTA-to-county relationship file (2020); Census ACS and Building Permits Survey, homes in Bell County; Census County Business Patterns, roofing firms in Bell County; OpenFEMA, declarations naming Bell County. Planning-level information about Bell 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).