#1
New York
New York takes the top spot with the strongest overall balance of low incident rates, robust boating rules and high community resilience.
72.74Readiness score
Key findings
Five leading storm-prepared boating states.
New York leads, followed by four states with standout safety, response or resilience results.
New Jersey
63.64
New Jersey ranks second with the strongest boating regulation score in the study.
Massachusetts
62.72
Massachusetts pairs the highest Coast Guard station density with the highest resilience score.
Mississippi
60.92
Mississippi records the lowest accident rate and the second-lowest fatality rate in the study.
Maine
60.00
Maine combines low incident rates with one of the study’s highest resilience scores.
Vukan Simic
Founder and CEO, BoatBooker
Preparing for changing conditions
“Storms can move in quickly, and checking the forecast is only part of being prepared. Clear safety rules, reliable rescue coverage and resilient local communities all help boaters stay safer when conditions change.”
Full ranking
Full state ranking
Methodology
How the score was built.
Five safety, regulation, response and resilience measures were scored on the same scale.
The study compares 23 coastal states across five equal-weight indicators.
What was measured
- Fatalities per 100,000 registered vessels
- Accidents per 100,000 registered vessels
- Boating safety regulation score, up to 12 points
- Active USCG response units per 100 miles of tidal shoreline
- FEMA community resilience, shown on a 0–10 scale
How the measures were built
Incident rates use registered vessel totals. Regulation covers education, PWC rules, life jackets and licensing. Coast Guard coverage uses active units per 100 tidal shoreline miles. Resilience averages FEMA county scores.
How states were ranked
Each metric became a percentile score. Lower incident rates scored better; stronger rules, coverage and resilience also lifted a state’s result. The five scores were averaged into the final 0–100 ranking.
Sources: USCG 2024 statistics and boating laws, 2024–2025 Coast Guard unit directories, NOAA shoreline data and FEMA NRI v1.20.0. Florida uses 2023 USCG data because its 2024 registration scope changed. Accident rates may also reflect differences in reporting practices.
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