Weather · Safety
Where Tornadoes Kill
Tornadoes killed 1,461 people in the United States from 2008–2025. This map and these tables show where those deaths happened, how strong the tornadoes were and where people were when they died. The clearest pattern is also the most fixable: most victims were in mobile homes.
Tornado Deaths by State
Green is safest, red is deadliest. The default view adjusts for population, so a small state with many deaths still stands out. Switch to total deaths to see raw counts.
State Rankings
Per million residents adjusts for state size. Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas lead either way, the heart of Dixie Alley.
| Alabama | 314 | 62.5 | 21.5% |
| Missouri | 222 | 36.1 | 15.2% |
| Tennessee | 134 | 19.4 | 9.2% |
| Mississippi | 128 | 43.2 | 8.8% |
| Kentucky | 126 | 28.0 | 8.6% |
| Oklahoma | 95 | 24.0 | 6.5% |
| Arkansas | 78 | 25.9 | 5.3% |
| Texas | 56 | 1.9 | 3.8% |
| Georgia | 52 | 4.9 | 3.6% |
| North Carolina | 37 | 3.5 | 2.5% |
| Illinois | 33 | 2.6 | 2.3% |
| Iowa | 30 | 9.4 | 2.1% |
| Louisiana | 26 | 5.6 | 1.8% |
| Indiana | 25 | 3.7 | 1.7% |
| Ohio | 15 | 1.3 | 1.0% |
| Florida | 14 | 0.7 | 1.0% |
| South Carolina | 12 | 2.3 | 0.8% |
| Virginia | 11 | 1.3 | 0.8% |
| New York | 10 | 0.5 | 0.7% |
| Kansas | 9 | 3.1 | 0.6% |
| Minnesota | 6 | 1.1 | 0.4% |
| Michigan | 6 | 0.6 | 0.4% |
| North Dakota | 5 | 6.4 | 0.3% |
| Massachusetts | 3 | 0.4 | 0.2% |
| Montana | 2 | 1.8 | 0.1% |
| Wisconsin | 2 | 0.3 | 0.1% |
| Nebraska | 2 | 1.0 | 0.1% |
| Maryland | 2 | 0.3 | 0.1% |
| Colorado | 1 | 0.2 | 0.1% |
| New Hampshire | 1 | 0.7 | 0.1% |
| West Virginia | 1 | 0.6 | 0.1% |
| South Dakota | 1 | 1.1 | 0.1% |
| Pennsylvania | 1 | 0.1 | 0.1% |
| Delaware | 1 | 1.0 | 0.1% |
Deaths by Where People Were
Mobile homes are far and away the most dangerous place to be. A basement or interior room of a sturdy building is the safest.
| Mobile / manufactured home | 541 | 37.0% |
| Permanent home | 491 | 33.6% |
| Permanent building (non-home) | 181 | 12.4% |
| Vehicle | 109 | 7.5% |
| Unknown | 103 | 7.0% |
| Outdoors | 35 | 2.4% |
Deaths by Tornado Strength
The strongest tornadoes (EF4 and EF5) are rare but cause most deaths. EF0–EF1 tornadoes still kill.
| EF4 · 166–200 mph | 506 | 34.6% |
| EF3 · 136–165 mph | 408 | 27.9% |
| EF5 · 200+ mph | 326 | 22.3% |
| EF2 · 111–135 mph | 162 | 11.1% |
| EF1 · 86–110 mph | 53 | 3.6% |
| EF0 · 65–85 mph | 4 | 0.3% |
Deadliest Individual Tornadoes
The single tornadoes that killed the most people, including the 2011 Joplin EF5, the deadliest U.S. tornado in modern records.
| May 22, 2011 | MO | Jasper (Joplin) | EF5 | 158 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | AL | Marion/Franklin/Lawrence/Limestone/Madison | EF5 | 72 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | AL | Tuscaloosa/Jefferson | EF4 | 64 |
| Dec 10, 2021 | KY | Graves (Mayfield) + Hopkins, Muhlenberg, Caldwell, Marshall, Fulton, Lyon | EF4 | 57 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | AL | DeKalb | EF5 | 25 |
| May 20, 2013 | OK | Cleveland (Moore) | EF5 | 24 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | MS | Monroe/Marion | EF5 | 23 |
| Mar 03, 2019 | AL | Lee (Beauregard) | EF4 | 23 |
| Feb 05, 2008 | TN | Sumner-Macon | EF3 | 22 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | AL | St. Clair/Calhoun | EF4 | 22 |
| May 10, 2008 | OK | Ottawa (Picher) + Newton-Barry (MO) | EF4 | 21 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | GA | Catoosa/Hamilton/Bradley | EF4 | 20 |
| Mar 03, 2020 | TN | Putnam (Cookeville) | EF4 | 19 |
| May 16, 2025 | KY | Laurel / Pulaski | EF4 | 18 |
| Mar 24, 2023 | MS | Sharkey/Humphreys (Rolling Fork) | EF4 | 17 |
| Apr 27, 2014 | AR | Pulaski-White (Mayflower-Vilonia) | EF4 | 16 |
| Dec 11, 2021 | KY | Warren (Bowling Green) | EF3 | 16 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | AL | Jackson/DeKalb/Dade | EF4 | 14 |
| Feb 05, 2008 | AR | Pope-Izard | EF4 | 13 |
| Apr 27, 2011 | AL | Fayette/Walker | EF4 | 13 |
| Apr 16, 2011 | NC | Bertie | EF3 | 12 |
| Mar 02, 2012 | IN | Washington/Clark/Scott/Jefferson (Henryville) | EF4 | 11 |
| Jan 22, 2017 | GA | Brooks/Cook/Berrien | EF3 | 11 |
| Apr 24, 2010 | MS | Yazoo/Holmes/Choctaw | EF4 | 10 |
| Mar 02, 2012 | KY | Menifee/Morgan/Lawrence | EF3 | 10 |
| Apr 28, 2014 | MS | Winston (Louisville) | EF4 | 10 |
| Dec 26, 2015 | TX | Dallas (Garland) | EF4 | 10 |
| May 25, 2008 | IA | Butler (Parkersburg) | EF5 | 9 |
| May 24, 2011 | OK | Canadian/Logan (El Reno-Piedmont) | EF5 | 9 |
| Dec 23, 2015 | MS | Marshall-Benton-Tippah | EF4 | 9 |
| Mar 31, 2023 | TN | McNairy | EF3 | 9 |
| May 25, 2024 | TX | Cooke (Valley View) | EF3 | 7 |
| Jan 12, 2023 | AL | Autauga | EF3 | 7 |
| Jun 05, 2010 | OH | Wood/Ottawa | EF4 | 7 |
| Oct 09, 2024 | FL | St. Lucie | EF3 | 6 |
| Mar 05, 2022 | IA | Madison (Winterset) | EF4 | 6 |
Sources & Method
Data: NOAA Storm Prediction Center annual killer-tornado statistics (STATIJ reports), 2008–2025. We total deaths across all 18 years by state, by EF rating and by where each victim was. Per-capita figures use 2020 U.S. Census state populations (deaths per million residents over the period). Parsed from SPC's annual STATIJ killer-tornado reports. 2026 is added when SPC publishes it. One 2011-report state code 'KA' (3 deaths) is folded into Kansas as an SPC keying typo. EF and circumstance breakdowns are summed from individual records; because a few tornadoes cross state lines or have an uncategorized death, those sub-totals can differ from the headline by a death or two.
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