#1 New York
New York combines low incident rates with strong education rules and above-average resilience.
Calm blue-green waters
Key findings
The top 10 storm-prepared boating states.
New York leads the study, followed by a compact group of coastal states with stronger safety outcomes, rules, response coverage, or resilience.
#1
New York
The overall leader, helped by low incident rates, stronger education rules, and above-average FEMA resilience.
72.74Readiness score
New Jersey
63.64
Top regulation score.
Massachusetts
62.72
Strongest response density and resilience.
Mississippi
60.92
Very strong safety outcomes.
Maine
60.00
Low incidents, high resilience.
Alabama
58.20
Strong licensing rules.
Washington
58.20
Low accident rate, strong education rules.
Delaware
57.28
Zero recorded fatalities in the dataset.
New Hampshire
54.54
High station density for its shoreline.
Connecticut
54.54
Universal education rules and solid resilience.
“Storm preparedness is not only about whether a state faces severe weather. It is about how well boaters are protected when conditions change. By looking at safety outcomes, boating rules, response coverage, and community resilience together, this ranking gives boaters a clearer picture of where the support system around them is strongest.”
Vukan Simic, founder and CEO of BoatBooker
Full ranking
Full state ranking
| Rank | State | Score | Fatality rate | Accident rate | Regulation | Stations | Resilience |
|---|
Methodology
How the storm-prepared score was built.
The ranking compares states fairly by turning each input into a like-for-like score, then combining the signals that matter most for storm-season boating.
Start with boating safety
USCG fatality and accident counts were divided by registered recreational vessels, so larger and smaller boating states could be compared on the same basis.
Score protective rules
Each state was checked against 12 boating-law signals, including education, licensing, life jacket, and personal watercraft requirements.
Add response and resilience
Coast Guard station coverage was measured against shoreline miles, while FEMA's resilience score captured how well communities can absorb disruption.
Convert to a 100-point score
Lower incident rates, stronger rules, higher station density, and stronger resilience all lifted the final storm-prepared boating score.
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