Arkansas drought risk
Mississippi County has the highest drought risk in Arkansas, scoring 98.6 out of 100 — rated "Relatively High" by FEMA's National Risk Index.
| # | County | NRI score | Rating |
NOAA events 2016–2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi County | 98.6 | Relatively High | 0 |
| 2 | Clay County | 96 | Relatively High | 0 |
| 3 | Craighead County | 92.1 | Relatively High | 0 |
| 4 | Lincoln County | 90.8 | Relatively High | 0 |
| 5 | Greene County | 90.4 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 6 | Poinsett County | 89.1 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 7 | Chicot County | 88.4 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 8 | Jackson County | 88.4 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 9 | Woodruff County | 87.4 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 10 | Lafayette County | 86.6 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 11 | Lawrence County | 85.1 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 12 | Crittenden County | 83.8 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 13 | St. Francis County | 83 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 14 | Cross County | 82.8 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 15 | Drew County | 82.4 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 16 | Ashley County | 80.9 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 17 | Miller County | 79.8 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 18 | Little River County | 79.4 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 19 | Phillips County | 75.1 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 20 | Desha County | 70.7 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 21 | White County | 69.7 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 22 | Crawford County | 69 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 23 | Arkansas County | 66.5 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 24 | Randolph County | 65.2 | Relatively Moderate | 0 |
| 25 | Jefferson County | 62.9 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 26 | Conway County | 61.6 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 27 | Lee County | 61.3 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 28 | Hempstead County | 61.2 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 29 | Logan County | 59 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 30 | Independence County | 58.9 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 31 | Franklin County | 58.2 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 32 | Columbia County | 56.3 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 33 | Bradley County | 54.6 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 34 | Perry County | 54.5 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 35 | Pope County | 51.9 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 36 | Monroe County | 50.5 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 37 | Faulkner County | 48.1 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 38 | Clark County | 47.6 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 39 | Sevier County | 46.7 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 40 | Johnson County | 46.5 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 41 | Benton County | 45.7 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 42 | Prairie County | 44.9 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 43 | Yell County | 44.1 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 44 | Nevada County | 41.8 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 45 | Lonoke County | 40 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 46 | Pike County | 38.6 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 47 | Sebastian County | 38.4 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 48 | Cleburne County | 33.7 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 49 | Izard County | 33.2 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 50 | Union County | 31.7 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 51 | Stone County | 31.4 | Relatively Low | 0 |
| 52 | Sharp County | 30.4 | Very Low | 0 |
| 53 | Hot Spring County | 26.5 | Very Low | 0 |
| 54 | Saline County | 25.4 | Very Low | 0 |
| 55 | Dallas County | 24.2 | Very Low | 0 |
| 56 | Pulaski County | 24.2 | Very Low | 0 |
| 57 | Ouachita County | 22.7 | Very Low | 0 |
| 58 | Calhoun County | 20.3 | Very Low | 0 |
| 59 | Cleveland County | 19.7 | Very Low | 0 |
| 60 | Grant County | 19 | Very Low | 0 |
| 61 | Baxter County | 0 | No Rating | 0 |
| 62 | Boone County | 0 | No Rating | 0 |
| 63 | Carroll County | 0 | No Rating | 0 |
| 64 | Fulton County | 0 | No Rating | 0 |
| 65 | Garland County | 0 | No Rating | 0 |
| 66 | Howard County | 0 | No Rating | 0 |
| 67 | Madison County | 0 | No Rating | 0 |
| 68 | Marion County | 0 | No Rating | 0 |
| 69 | Montgomery County | 0 | No Rating | 0 |
| 70 | Newton County | 0 | No Rating | 0 |
| 71 | Polk County | 0 | No Rating | 0 |
| 72 | Scott County | 0 | No Rating | 0 |
| 73 | Searcy County | 0 | No Rating | 0 |
| 74 | Van Buren County | 0 | No Rating | 0 |
| 75 | Washington County | 0 | No Rating | 0 |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0, December 2025. Scores are 0–100 percentile rankings among all US counties. See the methodology page for definitions. Download the full CSV for all counties.
Drought risk nationally:
Other hazard risks in Arkansas:
Frequently asked questions
What is the highest drought risk county in Arkansas?
Mississippi County, AR has the highest drought risk in Arkansas, with a FEMA National Risk Index score of 98.6 out of 100 (rated "Relatively High").
What causes drought risk in Arkansas?
Drought risk captures expected annual losses from prolonged precipitation deficits affecting agriculture, water supply, and ecosystems. High scores cover the western Great Plains, Southwest, and California's Central Valley. Climate change is increasing drought frequency and severity across much of the US, with multi-year droughts becoming more common in the West.