Disaster preparedness varies widely by age, experience, and the kind of action people take. In FEMA’s 2024 National Household Survey on Disaster Preparedness, adults reported different levels of risk perception, planning, emergency supplies, financial readiness, and community involvement. The figures below describe survey responses, not a universal checklist for every household.
Contents
- How people view disaster risk
- Preparedness awareness and intentions
- Supplies, insurance, and important documents
- Plans for evacuation and communication
- Financial and property preparedness
- Alerts, drills, and community support
- Preparedness supplies across racial groups
How people view disaster risk
Risk perception is one of the clearest dividing lines in the survey. Among adults ages 18–59, 38% reported disaster risk perception, compared with 25% of adults ages 60 and older. Disaster experience followed a similar pattern: 49% of adults ages 18–59 reported disaster experience, while 36% of adults ages 60 and older did so.
Awareness of preparedness information was higher than reported risk perception in both age groups. Eighty-one percent of adults ages 18–59 reported awareness of preparedness information, compared with 71% of adults ages 60 and older. These measures describe different things: knowing about preparedness information does not necessarily mean that a person feels personally at risk or has completed preparedness actions.
The survey also measured preparedness efficacy, or respondents’ reported sense that preparedness is possible or effective. Thirty-four percent of adults ages 18–59 reported preparedness efficacy, compared with 26% of adults ages 60 and older.
| Survey measure | Ages 18–59 | Ages 60+ |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness of preparedness information | 81% | 71% |
| Disaster experience | 49% | 36% |
| Disaster risk perception | 38% | 25% |
| Preparedness efficacy | 34% | 26% |
Source: FEMA 2024 National Household Survey on Disaster Preparedness.
People’s stated motivations add context. Thirty percent of respondents said they had worried about a disaster affecting them or their family. Forty-four percent said ensuring their own safety and their family’s safety motivated them to prepare. Among respondents who moved within the past year, 17% considered hazards or building codes in their move.
Cost was a prominent obstacle: 26% of respondents said the most frequent barrier to taking preparedness actions was thinking it would cost too much. That result points to a practical distinction between believing preparation matters and feeling able to pay for every preparedness measure.
Preparedness awareness and intentions
The survey separated people who were not prepared from those who intended to begin preparing. Among adults ages 18–59, 13% said they were not prepared and did not intend to prepare in the next year. Among adults ages 60 and older, the corresponding share was 12%.
Intentions were more common among people who said they were not yet prepared. Twenty-two percent of adults ages 18–59 said they were not prepared but intended to start preparing in the next year. For adults ages 60 and older, that figure was 13%. A shorter time horizon produced another difference: 27% of adults ages 18–59 said they were not prepared but intended to get prepared in the next six months, compared with 20% of adults ages 60 and older.
Among those reporting that they were already prepared, 15% of adults ages 18–59 said they had been prepared for less than a year, while 14% of adults ages 60 and older said the same. Longer-term preparation was more common among the older group: 22% of adults ages 18–59 said they had been prepared for more than a year, compared with 42% of adults ages 60 and older.
These responses show why a single “prepared” percentage can conceal different household situations. Some respondents may be newly prepared, some may be planning to begin, and others may have maintained preparedness for more than a year.
Supplies, insurance, and important documents
Emergency supplies were among the most commonly reported preparedness measures. Sixty-seven percent of adults ages 18–59 had emergency supplies set aside, compared with 72% of adults ages 60 and older. Homeowners or renters insurance showed a wider age difference: 66% of adults ages 18–59 had this coverage, compared with 88% of adults ages 60 and older.
Safeguarding important documents was reported by 64% of adults ages 18–59 and 73% of adults ages 60 and older. The age comparison is summarized below.
| Household readiness measure | Ages 18–59 | Ages 60+ |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency supplies set aside | 67% | 72% |
| Homeowners or renters insurance | 66% | 88% |
| Important documents safeguarded | 64% | 73% |
| Money set aside for an emergency | 58% | 73% |
Source: FEMA 2024 National Household Survey on Disaster Preparedness.
The pattern is not identical across every preparedness action. Adults ages 60 and older reported higher shares for supplies, insurance, safeguarded documents, and emergency money. However, the survey does not establish why those differences occurred, and these percentages should not be interpreted as causal comparisons.
Plans for evacuation and communication
Planning measures reveal several specific household behaviors. Among adults ages 18–59, 58% had an emergency plan, compared with 52% of adults ages 60 and older. A plan to contact family members was reported by 65% of adults ages 18–59 and 57% of adults ages 60 and older.
Knowledge of evacuation routes was less common: 49% of adults ages 18–59 knew their evacuation routes, compared with 39% of adults ages 60 and older. Plans to communicate with neighbors were reported by 47% of adults ages 18–59 and 38% of adults ages 60 and older.
Taken together, these measures distinguish having a general emergency plan from knowing a route or having a neighborhood communication plan. The survey percentages were:
- Emergency plan: 58% among adults ages 18–59 and 52% among adults ages 60+.
- Plan to contact family members: 65% among adults ages 18–59 and 57% among adults ages 60+.
- Known evacuation routes: 49% among adults ages 18–59 and 39% among adults ages 60+.
- Plan to communicate with neighbors: 47% among adults ages 18–59 and 38% among adults ages 60+.
Source: FEMA 2024 National Household Survey on Disaster Preparedness.
Financial and property preparedness
Financial preparation was reported by 58% of adults ages 18–59 and 73% of adults ages 60 and older, based on whether respondents had money set aside for an emergency. The survey does not specify an amount in the supplied measure, so the figures indicate whether money was set aside rather than whether households had a particular level of financial protection.
Property mitigation also differed by age. Sixty-one percent of adults ages 18–59 said they had made home improvements to mitigate property damage. Among adults ages 60 and older, 52% reported making those improvements.
Insurance and mitigation are separate measures. Insurance coverage was reported by 66% of adults ages 18–59 and 88% of adults ages 60 and older, while home improvements to mitigate property damage were reported by 61% and 52%, respectively. The survey figures therefore describe different actions rather than interchangeable forms of protection.
The cost barrier remains relevant when interpreting these results. Twenty-six percent of all respondents identified thinking preparedness would cost too much as the most frequent barrier to taking preparedness actions. That finding is a reported perception about barriers, not an estimate of the cost of any specific preparedness project.
Alerts, drills, and community support
Receiving information and practicing a response were not reported at the same levels. Sixty-nine percent of adults ages 18–59 were signed up to receive alerts and warnings, compared with 68% of adults ages 60 and older. Participation in an emergency drill was much lower among both groups: 27% of adults ages 18–59 and 7% of adults ages 60 and older reported participating in one.
Community volunteering showed the largest age gap among the listed actions. Twenty percent of adults ages 18–59 volunteered to help their community prepare, compared with 4% of adults ages 60 and older.
Respondents also described where they expected support after a disaster or emergency. Seventy-one percent expected support from friends or family, while 52% expected support from the federal government. These are expectations reported by respondents; they are not forecasts of the assistance that would ultimately be available after a particular event.
Preparedness supplies across racial groups
FEMA’s 2024 survey also reported the share of respondents with emergency supplies set aside across racial categories. The supplied results range from 53% among Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander respondents to 75% among Black or African American respondents.
| Respondent racial category | Emergency supplies set aside |
|---|---|
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 73% |
| Asian | 68% |
| Black or African American | 75% |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 53% |
| White | 68% |
| Two or more races | 65% |
| Other race | 69% |
Source: FEMA 2024 National Household Survey on Disaster Preparedness.
These percentages describe reported emergency-supply status for the categories used in the survey. They do not explain the reasons for differences between groups, and the supplied results do not include sample sizes, margins of error, or subgroup definitions beyond the category labels.
Across the full set of measures, the survey presents preparedness as a collection of actions rather than one single condition. Awareness, perceived risk, supplies, insurance, documents, plans, alerts, drills, finances, mitigation, and community participation each capture a different part of household readiness. The FEMA 2024 results show that reported preparedness can be relatively strong for one action and lower for another, even within the same age group.