# List of disasters in the United States by death toll

This list of United States disasters by death toll includes disasters that occurred either in the United States, at diplomatic missions of the United States, or incidents outside of the United States in which a number of U.S. citizens were killed.
* Domestic deaths due to war in America are included except the American Civil War. For stats on this and U.S. military deaths in foreign locations, see United States military casualties of war and list of battles with most United States military fatalities.
* Due to inflation, the monetary damage estimates are not comparable. Unless otherwise noted, the year given is the year in which the currency's valuation was calculated.

## Over 1,000,000 deaths

| Fatalities | Year | Article | Type | Location | Damage (US$) | Comments |
| 1,131,819 | 2020–2023 | COVID-19 pandemic in the United States | Pandemic | Nationwide | see Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States | Fatalities estimated. Deadliest known disaster in United States history. |

## Over 100,000 deaths

| Fatalities | Year | Article | Type | Location | Comments |
| 725,000+ | 1999 – present | Opioid epidemic in the United States | Drug Epidemic | Nationwide | Second-deadliest disaster in United States history. Deadliest drug epidemic in United States history. |
| 700,000 | 1981 – present | HIV/AIDS in the United States | Pandemic | Nationwide | Fatalities estimated. Third-deadliest disaster in United States history. |
| 675,000 | 1918 – 1920 | 1918 influenza pandemic | Pandemic | Nationwide | Fatalities estimated. Fourth-deadliest disaster in United States history. |
| 116,000 | 1957 – 1958 | 1957–1958 influenza pandemic | Pandemic | Nationwide | Fatalities estimated. Fifth-deadliest disaster in United States history. |
| 100,000 | 1968 | 1968 influenza pandemic | Pandemic | Nationwide | Fatalities estimated. Sixth-deadliest disaster in United States history. |

## Over 400 deaths

| Fatalities | Year | Article | Type | Location | Damage (US$) | Comments |
| 6,000–12,000 | 1900 | 1900 Galveston hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Texas | $34,000,000 (1900) | |
| 5,000 | 1936 | 1936 North American heat wave | Heat wave | United States, Canada | | |
| 4,000+ | 1862 | Great Flood of 1862 | Flood | Western United States | $100,000,000 (1862) | |
| 3,389 | 1899 | 1899 San Ciriaco hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Puerto Rico, East Coast of the United States | $20,000,000 (1899) | |
| 3,000+ | 1906 | 1906 San Francisco earthquake | Earthquake and fire (urban conflagration) | San Francisco, California | $235,000,000 (1906) | Conflagration followed quake; fatalities estimated; also major casualties in Santa Rosa and San Jose. Deadliest earthquake in U.S. history. |
| 2,996 (2,977 ex. perps) | 2001 | September 11 attacks | Terrorism | New York City, Arlington County, Virginia, and Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania | $10,000,000,000 (2001) | 2,977 victims and 19 hijackers. Deadliest disaster in New York City and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Deadliest act of terrorism in United States history. |
| 2,982 (estimated) | 2017 | Hurricane Maria | Tropical cyclone | Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands, East Coast of the United States | $94,500,000,000 (2017) | Total includes at least 2,975 deaths based on a study by GWU on the estimated excess mortality. The official death count was previously 64. The storm caused $90 billion (2017 USD) in damage in Puerto Rico, and three deaths in the U.S. Virgin Islands, plus 75 deaths and $1.6 billion in damage across the rest of the Caribbean. |
| 2,823 | 1928 | 1928 Okeechobee hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Florida, Puerto Rico | $800,000,000 (2005) | 4,000+ believed dead total. Includes 2,511+ in the contiguous United States, 312 in Puerto Rico. |
| 2,467 | 1941 | Attack on Pearl Harbor | Military strike – bombing | Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii and nearby military installations | | 2,403 U.S. victims and 64 Japanese attackers. Deadliest attack on U.S. soil by a foreign government. |
| 2,209 | 1889 | Johnstown Flood | Accident – dam failure | Pennsylvania | | Much rain, deforestation; dam failed |
| 2,000 | 1893 | 1893 Cheniere Caminada hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Louisiana | | Fatalities estimated |
| 1,700 | 1980 | 1980 United States heat wave | Heat wave | Central and southern states | $20,000,000,000 (1980 USD) | Official death toll, may have been higher |
| 1,500–2,500 | 1871 | Peshtigo Fire | Wildfire | Peshtigo, Wisconsin, Upper Peninsula of Michigan | | Fatalities estimated; most deaths in one fire in U.S. history |
| 1,500 | 1896 | 1896 Eastern North America heat wave | Heat wave | Northeastern United States, Midwestern United States | | Fatalities estimated |
| 1,392 | 2005 | Hurricane Katrina | Tropical cyclone | Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and Ohio | $125,000,000,000 (2005) | Tied with Hurricane Harvey as the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. |
| 1,173 | 1943 | HMT Rohna | Military strike – bombing | Mediterranean Sea | | Luftwaffe glide bomb hit troopship causing the largest loss of U.S. soldiers (1,050) at sea due to enemy action in a single incident. |
| 1,167 | 1865 | Sultana | Accident – shipwreck | Marion, Arkansas | | Steamboat sank due to boiler explosion; fatalities estimated. Deadliest maritime disaster in U.S. history |
| 1,021 | 1904 | PS General Slocum | Accident – shipwreck | East River near New York City | | Steamship sank due to fire on board. Deadliest maritime disaster in New York City, and deadliest in city's history until 2001. |
| 1,000–2,000 | 1893 | 1893 Sea Islands hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Georgia, South Carolina | | Fatalities estimated |
| 1,000 | 1918 | 1918 Cloquet fire | Wildfire (rural) | Minnesota | $7,300,000 | |
| 918 | 1978 | Jonestown | Mass murder | Jonestown, Guyana | | Jim Jones, cult leader of the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, convinced most of the group to drink grape Flavor Aid poisoned with cyanide or to inject themselves and their children with cyanide, totaling 909 deaths of U.S. nationals. A family of four other Temple members committed murder/suicide by knife in Georgetown. Five others were shot and killed while trying to escape from Jonestown, including U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan. |
| 879 | 1945 | USS Indianapolis | Military strike – submarine | Philippine Sea | | Largest loss of life in the history of the U.S. Navy at sea |
| 844 | 1915 | SS Eastland | Accident – shipwreck | Chicago, Illinois | | Passenger ship capsized in Chicago harbor while loading charter for company picnic, causing great loss of life despite shallow water and proximity to land. Deadliest disaster in the history of Great Lakes shipping, and deadliest disaster in Chicago history. |
| 819 | 1944 | SS Léopoldville | Military strike – submarine | English Channel | | Approximately 763 United States Army soldiers drowned. |
| 800 | 1875 | 1875 Indianola hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Louisiana, Texas | | Fatalities estimated |
| 749 | 1944 | Exercise Tiger | Military strike – E-boats | English Channel | | USS LST-289, LST-507 and LST-531 sunk during a training exercise. |
| 747 | 1925 | Tornado outbreak of March 18, 1925 | Tornado outbreak | Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee | $1,650,000,000 (2005) | At least 12 tornadoes, including the following: Tri-State Tornado: 695 deaths (deadliest tornado in U.S. history) Buck Lodge, Tennessee/Beaumont, Kentucky: 41 deaths |
| 745 | 1919 | 1919 Florida Keys hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Florida, Texas | | Including 488 deaths aboard SS Valbanera |
| 739 | 1995 | Chicago Heat Wave of 1995 | Heat wave | Chicago, Illinois | | |
| 683 | 1942 | USS Juneau | Military strike – submarine | Guadalcanal | | Sunk by submarine while retreating with damage from naval battle of Guadalcanal. |
| 682–800 | 1938 | 1938 New England hurricane | Tropical cyclone | | | |
| 675 | 1943 | SS Dorchester | Military strike – submarine | Greenland | | United States troopship. |
| 650 | 1913 | Great Flood of 1913 | Flood | Central United States, Eastern United States | | Fatalities estimated |
| 644 | 1943 | USS Liscombe Bay | Military strike – submarine | Gilbert Islands | | Submarine torpedo detonated the aircraft carrier's bomb magazine during Operation Galvanic. |
| 602 | 1903 | Iroquois Theatre fire | Fire (building) | Chicago, Illinois | | Worst theater fire in American history; worst single-building fire. |
| 600 | 1928 | St. Francis Dam | Accident – dam failure | Santa Clarita, California | | |
| 581 | 1947 | Texas City disaster | Accident – explosion | Texas City, Texas | | Ammonium nitrate on board ship |
| 501+ | 1896 | Tornado outbreak sequence of May 1896 | Tornado outbreak sequence | Central United States, Southern United States | $2,900,000,000 (1997) | At least 38 tornadoes, including the following: 1896 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado: 255–400 deaths Sherman, Texas: 73+ deaths Ortonville–Thomas–Oakwood, Michigan: 47+ deaths Seneca–Oneida, Kansas/Falls City, Nebraska: 25+ deaths Imbs–Germantown, Illinois: 24 deaths |
| 500+ | 1804 | 1804 Antigua–Charleston hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Southeastern United States | | |
| 500 | 1865 | American steamship General Lyon (1864) | Accident – fire, shipwreck | Off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina | | Fatalities estimated |
| 500 | 1871 | Great Michigan Fire | Wildfire (rural) | Michigan | | Fatalities estimated |
| 492 | 1942 | Cocoanut Grove fire | Fire (building) | Boston, Massachusetts | | Deadliest nightclub fire ever, and second-deadliest structure fire in U.S. history; loss of life due to blocked exits; burn victims were among the first treated with penicillin |
| 476–1,000+ | 1927 | Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster | Industrial, silicosis | Gauley Bridge, West Virginia | | 178 admitted deaths, 476 with congressional inquiry, 1,000+ by epidemiologists. |
| 454+ | 1936 | 1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee | | At least 12 tornadoes, including the following: Tupelo, Mississippi: 216+ deaths Gainesville, Georgia: 203+ deaths |
| 450-800 | 1862 | Dakota War of 1862 | Massacre | | | |
| 428 | 1913 | 1913 (Ohio) statewide flood | Flood | Ohio | | |
| 418+ | 1894 | Great Hinckley Fire | Wildfire (rural) | Hinckley, Minnesota and vicinity | | |
| 416 | 1957 | Hurricane Audrey | Tropical cyclone | Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama | $147,000,000 (1957) | |
| 408 | 1935 | 1935 Labor Day hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Florida | | |

## 201 to 400 deaths

| Fatalities | Year | Article | Type | Location | Damage (US$) | Comments |
| 400 | 1857 | SS Central America | Accident – shipwreck | Off the coast of Georgia | | Fatalities estimated |
| 400 | 1860 | PS Lady Elgin | Accident – shipwreck | Chicago, Illinois | | |
| 400 | 1888 | Great Blizzard of 1888 | Blizzard | Northeastern United States | | Fatalities estimated |
| 400+ | 1898 | Portland Gale | Storm | New England | | |
| 385 | 1937 | Ohio River flood of 1937 | Flood | Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois | $5,000,000,000 | |
| 383+ | 1917 | May–June 1917 tornado outbreak sequence | Tornado outbreak sequence | Midwestern United States, Southeastern United States | $6,880,000 | At least 66 tornadoes, including the following: Mattoon–Charleston, Illinois: 101+ deaths Tiptonville, Tennessee/Dublin, Kentucky: 67 deaths Sumiton–Morris, Alabama: 27 deaths Cheney–Florence, Kansas: 23 deaths Blytheville, Arkansas/Como, Tennessee: 18 deaths Ellsinore–Drum, Missouri: 18 deaths |
| 383 | 1950 | Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950 | Blizzard | Eastern United States | $66,700,000 (1950) | |
| 380+ | 1911 | 1911 Eastern North America heat wave | Heat wave | Northeastern United States | | |
| 372 | 1926 | 1926 Miami hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Florida | | |
| 372 | 1944 | USS Mount Hood | Accident – explosion | New Guinea | | Ammunition ship explosion. |
| 371+ | 1909 | 1909 Grand Isle hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Gulf Coast of the United States | | |
| 362 | 1907 | Monongah mining disaster | Accident – coal mine | Monongah, West Virginia | | |
| 361 | 1913 | Great Dayton Flood | Flood | Dayton, Ohio | | Flood was created by a series of three winter storms that hit the region in March, 1913 |
| 348 | 2011 | 2011 Super Outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States, Southern United States, Eastern United States | ~$11,000,000,000 (2011) | Including 24 non-tornadic deaths; 367 tornadoes, including the following: Hackleburg–Phil Campbell, Alabama: 72 deaths Tuscaloosa–Birmingham, Alabama: 64 deaths Rainsville, Alabama: 25 deaths Smithville, Mississippi: 23 deaths Shoal Creek Valley–Ohatchee–Piedmont, Alabama/Cave Spring, Georgia: 22 deaths Ringgold, Georgia/Southeast Tennessee: 20 deaths |
| 330+ | 1932 | 1932 Deep South tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Southern United States | $4,340,000 | At least 36 tornadoes, including 10 violent (F4 or F5) storms, resulting in 268 deaths in Alabama alone. Deadliest tornadoes include the following: Cox–Union Grove, Alabama: 49+ deaths Gantts Quarry–Chandler Springs, Alabama: 41 deaths Jackson County, Alabama/Jasper, Tennessee: 38+ deaths Ralph–Northport, Alabama: 37 deaths Plantersville–Sylacauga, Alabama: 31 deaths Cullman–Arab, Alabama: 18 deaths Dalton, Georgia/Conasauga, Tennessee: 15 deaths |
| 326+ | 1900 | 1900 Hoboken Docks fire | Fire (industrial) | Hoboken, New Jersey | | Including 99 deaths on SS Saale |
| 324+ | 1908 | 1908 Dixie tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Great Plains, Midwestern United States, Southern United States | | At least 29 tornadoes, including the following: Amite, Louisiana/Purvis, Mississippi: 143 deaths Concordia Parish, Louisiana/near Natchez, Mississippi: 91 deaths Bergens/Albertville, Alabama: 35 deaths |
| 322 | 1930 | Ohio Penitentiary | Fire (building) | Columbus, Ohio | | |
| 320 | 1944 | Port Chicago disaster | Accident – explosion | Port Chicago, California | | World War II ammunition ignited |
| 317+ | 1840 | Great Natchez Tornado | Tornado | Natchez, Mississippi | $1,260,000 | |
| 313 | 1837 | Steamboat Monmouth disaster | Boat collision | Above Baton Rouge on the Mississippi River | | Fatalities estimated |
| 310 | 1974 | 1974 Super Outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Ontario, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and New York | $3,500,000,000 (2005) | Additional 9 deaths in Ontario; 148 tornadoes, including the following: Xenia, Ohio: 32 deaths Brandenburg, Kentucky: 31 deaths Tanner, Alabama (1st): 28 deaths Guin, Alabama: 28 deaths Otterbein–Monticello–Wolcottville, Indiana: 18 deaths Tanner, Alabama (2nd): 16 deaths |
| 300+ | 1856 | 1856 Last Island hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Louisiana, Mississippi | | |
| 300 | 1864 | Oak Run Massacre | Massacre | Oak Run, California | | |
| 300 | 1865 | Mobile magazine explosion | Accident – explosion | Mobile, Alabama | | Civil War ammunition; fatalities estimated |
| 300 | 1921 | Tulsa race massacre | Race massacre | Tulsa, Oklahoma | | White mob attacks affluent black neighborhood; fatalities estimated |
| 296–319 | 1937 | New London School explosion | Accident – explosion | New London, Texas | $13,000,000 (2003) | Gas leak |
| 300–400 | 1944 | 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane | Tropical cyclone | East Coast of the United States | | Fatalities estimated |
| 286 | 1960 | December 1960 nor'easter | Blizzard | Northeastern United States | | |
| 283+ | 1859 | Mendocino War | Massacre | Mendocino County, California | | |
| 282 | 1881 | Thumb Fire | Wildfire (rural) | Michigan | $2,347,000 | |
| 278 | 1876 | Brooklyn Theatre fire | Fire (building) | Brooklyn, New York | | |
| 276–702 | 2021 | February 13–17, 2021 North American winter storm | Blizzard | United States | $20,400,000,000 | Additional 14 deaths in Mexico |
| 275 | 1915 | 1915 Galveston hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Texas | | |
| 275 | 1915 | 1915 New Orleans hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Louisiana | | |
| 274 | 1898 | USS Maine | Explosion | Havana, Cuba | | A major event that precipitated the Spanish–American War. Exact cause remains unknown. |
| 273 | 1875 | Pacific (1850) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Cape Flattery, Washington | | Fatalities estimated |
| 273 | 1979 | American Airlines Flight 191 | Accident – aircraft | Chicago, Illinois | | Deadliest aircraft accident in U.S. history |
| 272 | 1943 | Henry R. Mallory | Military strike – submarine | North Atlantic | | United States troopship. |
| 271 | 1965 | Palm Sunday tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana | | 78 tornadoes, including the following: Coldwater Lake–Southern Hillsdale–Manitou Beach–Devils Lake–Southern Tecumseh, Michigan: 44 deaths from two tornadoes Southern Elkhart–Dunlap, Indiana: 36 deaths Midway, Indiana: 31 deaths Crawfordsville–Southern Arcadia, Indiana: 28 deaths Toledo, Ohio/Lost Peninsula, Michigan: 18 deaths Pittsfield–Grafton–Strongsville, Ohio: 18 deaths Russiaville–Alto–Southern Kokomo–Greentown, Indiana: 17 deaths |
| 270 | 1988 | Pan Am Flight 103 | Terrorism | Lockerbie, Scotland | | Inflight bombing of a flight from London to New York killed all aboard, including 179 U.S. citizens, and 16 on the ground. |
| 265 | 1913 | Dawson, New Mexico | Accident – coal mine | Dawson, New Mexico | | Including 263 miners and two rescuers |
| 265 | 2001 | American Airlines Flight 587 | Accident – aircraft | Queens, New York | | Second-deadliest U.S. aviation accident, and deadliest in New York City. |
| 259 | 1909 | Cherry Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Cherry, Illinois | | |
| 257 | 1932 | 1932 San Ciprián hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Puerto Rico | | |
| 256 | 1969 | Hurricane Camille | Tropical cyclone | Mississippi, Alabama, and Virginia | | |
| 256 | 1985 | Arrow Air Flight 1285 | Accident – aircraft | Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada | | Most of the passengers were members of the 101st Airborne Division. |
| 250 | 1858 | Pennsylvania (steamboat) | Accident – shipwreck | Mississippi River, near Memphis, Tennessee | | Fatalities estimated |
| 250 | 1913 | Great Lakes Storm of 1913 | Blizzard | Great Lakes region | $5,000,000 (1913) | Fatalities estimated |
| 247 | 1903 | Heppner flood of 1903 | Flood | Heppner, Oregon | | |
| 247 | 1953 | Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence | Tornado outbreak sequence | Michigan, Ohio, Nebraska and Massachusetts | | 50 tornadoes, including the following: Northern Flint–Beecher, Michigan: 116 deaths Worcester, Massachusetts: 94 deaths Deshler–Fremont–Fairview Lanes–Northeastern Elyria–Western Cleveland, Ohio: 17 deaths |
| 246-280 | 1863 | Bear River Massacre | Massacre | Near Preston, Idaho | | |
| 246 | 1927 | Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 | Flood | Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee | $400,000,000 | |
| 243+ | 1920 | April 1920 tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Southern United States | | At least 17 tornadoes, including the following Aberdeen, Mississippi/Waco, Alabama: 88 deaths Bay Springs–Russell, Mississippi: 36 deaths Deemer, Mississippi: 27 deaths Lily Flagg–Brownsboro, Alabama: 27 deaths Ingomar–Glen, Mississippi: 24 deaths Carbon Hill–Lacey's Spring, Alabama: 21 deaths |
| 241–289 | 1850 | SS G. P. Griffith | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Erie | | |
| 241+ | 1913 | Tornado outbreak sequence of March 1913 | Tornado outbreak sequence | Southern United States, Midwestern United States | $9,680,000 | At least 19 tornadoes, including the following: Omaha, Nebraska: 103 deaths Fulton–Lower Peach Tree, Alabama: 27 deaths Bellevue, Nebraska/Harlan, Iowa: 25 deaths Mead, Nebraska/Logan, Iowa: 22 deaths Prairieton–Terre Haute, Indiana: 21 deaths Douglas, Nebraska/Macedonia, Iowa: 18 deaths |
| 241 | 1983 | 1983 Beirut barracks bombings | Terrorism | Beirut, Lebanon | | 58 French peacekeepers, six civilians and two suicide bombers also died in the attack |
| 240 | 1862 | Tonkawa Massacre | Massacre | Indian Territory | | |
| 239 | 1907 | Darr Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Rostraver Township, Pennsylvania | | |
| 238 | 1912 | RMS Titanic | Accident – shipwreck | north Atlantic Ocean, south of Newfoundland | | Only includes U.S. victims |
| 238 | 1972 | 1972 Black Hills flood | Flood | Rapid City, South Dakota | $160,000,000 (1972) $664,000,000 (2002) | Average rainfall over area of 60 mi$^2$ measured at 10-15 inches (380 mm), over 6 hours in middle of night June 9–10, 1972. |
| 235 | 1888 | Schoolhouse Blizzard | Winter storm | Midwestern United States | | |
| 230 | 1996 | TWA Flight 800 | Accident – aircraft | Long Island, New York | | |
| 229 | 1997 | Korean Air Flight 801 | Accident – aircraft | Asan-Maina, Guam | | |
| 229–600 | 2021 | 2021 Western North America heat wave | Heat wave | Pacific Northwest | | At least 116 deaths in Oregon, at least 112 in Washington, and one in Idaho |
| 225 | 1865 | Brother Jonathan (steamer) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Crescent City, California | | Fatalities estimated |
| 225–350 | 1890 | Wounded Knee Massacre | Massacre | Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota | | 200–325 estimated Lakota fatalities, 25 U.S. Army |
| 220 | 2024 | Hurricane Helene | Tropical cyclone | Southeastern United States | | |
| 225 | 2006 | 2006 North American heat wave | Heat wave | Contiguous United States | | |
| 223 | 1998 | 1998 United States embassy bombings | Terrorism | Tanzania, Kenya | | 4,000+ injured |
| 217+ | 1927 | Tornado outbreak of May 1927 | Tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States, Southern United States | | At least 34 tornadoes, including the following: Imboden, Arkansas/Poplar Bluff, Missouri: 98 deaths Strong, Arkansas: 24 deaths Nevada, Texas: 19 deaths Garland, Texas: 15 deaths |
| 217 | 1999 | EgyptAir Flight 990 | Accident – aircraft | Atlantic Ocean near Nantucket, Massachusetts | | |
| 216 | 1902 | Fraterville Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Fraterville, Tennessee | | |
| 211 | 1906 | 1906 Florida Keys hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Florida | | |
| 209 | 1940 | Rhythm Club fire | Fire (building) | Natchez, Mississippi | | |
| 209 | 1952 | Tornado outbreak of March 21–22, 1952 | Tornado outbreak | Southern United States | $285,300,000 (2019) | 31 tornadoes, including the following: Kensett–Judsonia–Russell, Arkansas: 50 deaths Bolivar–Henderson–Chesterfield, Tennessee: 38 deaths Cotton Plant–Hunter, Arkansas: 29 deaths Cooter–Cottonwood Point, Missouri: 17 deaths Byhalia–Cayce, Mississippi/Williston, Tennessee: 16 deaths |
| 208 | 1993 | 1993 Storm of the Century | Cyclonic blizzard | Eastern United States | $6,650,000,000 (2008) | Additional 110 deaths in other countries |
| 202 | 1896 | 1896 Cedar Keys hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Landfall at Cedar Key, Florida; | $9,600,000 in 1896 ($289,000,000 in 2018) | Heavy damage along much of Eastern Seaboard of U.S. |
| 201 | 1966 | North American blizzard of 1966 | Blizzard | Eastern United States | | |

## 81 to 200 deaths

| Fatalities | Year | Article | Type | Location | Damage (US$) | Comments |
| 200–365 | 1854 | Powhattan (1837) | Accident – shipwreck | Harvey Cedars, New Jersey | | |
| 200–300 | 1871 | Great Chicago Fire | Fire (urban conflagration) | Chicago, Illinois | | Fatalities estimated; 125 bodies recovered |
| 200+ | 1900 | Scofield Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Scofield, Utah | | Fatalities estimated |
| 195 | 1928 | Mather Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Mather, Pennsylvania | | |
| 192 | 1898 | The Portland | Accident – shipwreck | Gloucester, Massachusetts | | |
| 190–250 | 1847 | SS Phoenix (1845) | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Michigan | | |
| 187+ | 1890 | March 1890 middle Mississippi Valley tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Middle Mississippi Valley | | At least 24 tornadoes, including the following: Shively, Kentucky/Jeffersonville, Indiana: 115 deaths Kevil–West Louisville, Kentucky: 21+ deaths |
| 187 | 1996 | North American blizzard of 1996 | Winter storm, flood | Eastern United States | | Including 33 deaths due to flooding |
| 186 | 2011 | Tornado outbreak sequence of May 21–26, 2011 | Tornado outbreak sequence | Midwestern United States, Southern United States | $7,000,000,000 (2011) | Including the Joplin, Missouri tornado, which caused 158 direct and 8 indirect deaths, the latter of which are included here. |
| 185–200 | 1863 | Lawrence Massacre | mass murder, military operation | Lawrence, Kansas | | |
| 184+ | 1955 | Hurricane Diane | Tropical cyclone | East Coast of the United States | | |
| 181 | 1785 | Faithful Steward (ship) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Cape Henlopen, Delaware Bay | | |
| 181 | 1904 | Harwick Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Cheswick, Pennsylvania | | Fatalities estimated |
| 181 | 1947 | 1947 Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornadoes | Tornado outbreak | Oklahoma (especially Woodward), Texas (including Glazier and Higgins), Kansas | | |
| 180+ | 1914 | Eccles mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Eccles, West Virginia | | |
| 180 | 1985 | 1985 Puerto Rico floods | Flood | Puerto Rico | | |
| 179+ | 1898 | 1898 Georgia hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Florida, Georgia | | |
| 178+ | 1884 | Tornado outbreak of February 19–20, 1884 | Tornado outbreak | Southeastern United States | | At least 37 tornadoes, including the following: Jacksonville, Alabama/Cave Spring, Georgia: 30 deaths Pee Dee–Rockingham–Philadelphia–Manly, North Carolina: 23 deaths Cartersville–Mount Oglethorpe, Georgia: 22 deaths |
| 175-350 (?) | 1919 | Red Summer | Periods of mass unrest | Major cities across the United States including Washington, Chicago, and Omaha | | The Washington race riot, the Chicago race riot, the Omaha race riot, Elaine massacre, and various other riots took place from April to November due to racial violence throughout the nation, mostly incited by white supremacists. |
| 175 | 1837 | Ben Sherrod | Fire (ship) | Near Natchez, Mississippi | | |
| 175 | 1864 | Sand Creek Massacre | Mass racial violence | Colorado Territory | | Cheyenne-Arapahoe fatalities estimated, U.S. Army/Colorado militia 25 killed |
| 175 | 1908 | Collinwood school fire | Fire (building) | Cleveland, Ohio | | Deadliest school fire in U.S. history; led to many changes in how schools were built. |
| 173-217 | 1870 | Marias Massacre | Massacre | Montana Territory | | |
| 172 | 1924 | Castle Gate Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Castle Gate, Utah | | 171 miners and one rescue worker |
| 171 | 1908 | Rhoads Opera House fire | Fire (building) | Boyertown, Pennsylvania | | Sources conflict on number of fatalities: 170 or 171. |
| 169 | 1903 | Hanna Mine disasters | Accident – coal mine | Carbon County, Wyoming | | |
| 168+ | 1880 | Tornado outbreak of April 1880 | Tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States | | At least 20 tornadoes, including the following: Boaz–Evergreen, Missouri: 99 deaths Rocky Comfort–Grovespring: 31 deaths |
| 168 | 1917 | Speculator Mine disaster | Fire (mine) | Butte, Montana | | |
| 168 | 1944 | Hartford circus fire | Fire (building) | Hartford, Connecticut | | |
| 168 | 1966 | 1966 New York City smog | Smog incident | New York City and New York metropolitan area, including parts of New Jersey and Connecticut | | Fatalities estimated |
| 168-169 | 1995 | Oklahoma City bombing | Terrorism | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | | Deadliest act of domestic terrorism, and deadliest domestic bombing, in U.S. history |
| 165–173 | 1946 | 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake | Earthquake, tsunami | Alaska, Hawaii | | |
| 165 | 1977 | Beverly Hills Supper Club fire | Fire (building) | Southgate, Kentucky | | |
| 164+ | 1909 | Tornado outbreak of late-April 1909 | Tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States, Southern United States | | At least 35 tornadoes, including the following: Horn Lake, Mississippi/Parsons, Tennessee: 29 deaths Elkmont, Alabama/Fayetteville, Tennessee: 29 deaths |
| 163 | 1944 | West Loch disaster | Accident - explosion | Pearl Harbor, Hawaii | | Classified as top secret until 1960. |
| 162 | 1956 | March 18–20, 1956 nor'easter | Blizzard | Northeastern United States | | |
| 160 | 1838 | Moselle (riverboat) | Accident – shipwreck | Ohio River, near Cincinnati | | |
| 158 | 2012 | Hurricane Sandy | Tropical cyclone | Most of the United States East Coast | $71,400,000,000 | 86 indirect fatalities occurred in the United States. 76 additional fatalities occurred in six other countries and offshore; 21 people are still missing in Haiti. |
| 157 | 1960 | Hurricane Donna | Tropical cyclone | The Caribbean, United States East Coast | $491,100,000 | Includes 107 deaths in Puerto Rico. |
| 156-173 | 1873 | Massacre Canyon | Massacre | Massacre Canyon, Nebraska | | |
| 156 | 1987 | Northwest Airlines Flight 255 | Accident – aircraft | Detroit, Michigan | | |
| 156+ | 2022 | Hurricane Ian | Tropical cyclone | Florida, the Carolinas, Virginia | | Including at least seven deaths in a migrant vessel off the coast of Florida which are counted in Monroe County's death toll; eleven others remain missing from that incident as of April 3, 2023 |
| 154 | 1940 | 1940 Armistice Day Blizzard | Winter storm, shipwrecks | Midwestern United States | | Including 66 deaths in a series of shipwrecks in Lake Michigan, including the SS Anna C. Minch, the SS Novadoc, the SS William B. Davock, and others |
| 153+ | 1920 | 1920 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States, Southern United States | | At least 37 tornadoes, including the following: LaGrange, Georgia: 27 deaths Red Hill–Susanna–Red Ridge–Agricola, Alabama/West Point, Georgia: 26 deaths Ossian–Townley, Indiana/Brunersburg–Raab Corners, Ohio: 23 deaths Channahon–Troy Township–Lockport–Bellwood–Maywood–Melrose Park–Dunning, Illinois: 20 deaths West Liberty–Geneva–Ceylon, Indiana/Van Wert, Ohio: 17 deaths |
| 153 | 1982 | Pan Am Flight 759 | Accident – aircraft | New Orleans, Louisiana | | |
| 150–200 | 1849 | Louisiana (steamboat) | Boiler explosion | New Orleans, Louisiana | | Fatalities estimated |
| 150–200 | 1936 | 1936 Northeast Flood | Flood | Northeastern United States | | Fatalities estimated |
| 150 | 1854 | New Era (1854 ship) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Asbury Park, New Jersey | | Fatalities estimated |
| 149 | 1942 | Tornado outbreak of March 16–17, 1942 | Tornado outbreak | Central United States, Southern United States | $5,250,000 | At least 28 tornadoes, including the following: Berclair–New Harmony, Mississippi: 63 deaths Bethel Springs–Beacon, Tennessee: 15 deaths |
| 146 | 1911 | Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire | Fire (building) | New York City, New York | | Led to improved occupational safety standards as well as mandatory comprehensive fire safety standards |
| 145 | 1976 | Big Thompson River | Flood | Colorado | | |
| 144 | 1871 | Camp Grant Massacre | Massacre | Camp Grant, Arizona | | |
| 144 | 1953 | 1953 Waco tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Great Plains, Midwestern United States | | Including 114 deaths from an F5 tornado in Waco, Texas |
| 144 | 1978 | PSA Flight 182 | Accident – aircraft | San Diego, California | | |
| 140 | 2000 | 2000 Southern United States heat wave | Heat wave | Southern United States | | |
| 139 | 1840 | Lexington | Accident – shipwreck | Long Island Sound | | Steamship sank due to fire on board |
| 139 | 1874 | Mill River (Northampton, Massachusetts) | Accident – dam failure | Hampshire County, Massachusetts | | |
| 139 | 1917 | Eddystone explosion | Explosion | Eddystone, Pennsylvania | | |
| 138 | 1944 | USS Turner (DD-648) | Accident – shipwreck | Lower New York Bay | | |
| 137 | 1934 | SS Morro Castle (1930) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Long Beach Island, New Jersey | | |
| 137 | 1985 | Delta Air Lines Flight 191 | Accident – aircraft | Dallas, Texas | | |
| 134 | 1906 | 1906 Mississippi hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Southeastern United States | | |
| 134–137 | 1944 | 1944 Appalachians tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States, Mid-Atlantic States | | At least seven tornadoes, including the following: Wyatt–Shinston–Cheat Mountain, West Virginia: 100–103 deaths Wellsburg, West Virginia/Oakland, Maryland: 30 deaths Pittsburgh–Somerset, Pennsylvania: 17 deaths |
| 134 | 1960 | 1960 New York mid-air collision | Accident – aircraft | New York City, New York | | |
| 134 | 1967 | 1967 USS Forrestal fire | Fire (ship) | Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam | >$72,000,000 | |
| 132 | 1994 | USAir Flight 427 | Accident – aircraft | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | | |
| 130–300 | 1852 | Atlantic (1848) | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Erie | | |
| 130 | 1944 | Cleveland East Ohio Gas explosion | Accident – explosion | Cleveland, Ohio | $7,000,000- $15,000,000 | |
| 129 | 1963 | USS Thresher (SSN-593) | Accident – submarine | Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Massachusetts | | Deadliest submarine disaster in U.S. history. |
| 128 | 1838 | Steamship Pulaski disaster | Accident – shipwreck | Off North Carolina | | |
| 128–135 | 1901 | SS City of Rio de Janeiro | Accident – shipwreck | San Francisco Bay, California | | |
| 128 | 1911 | Banner Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Alabama | | |
| 128 | 1915 | Sinking of the RMS Lusitania | Military strike – submarine | Atlantic Ocean near Kinsale, Ireland | | Ship torpedoed by a German U-boat. 1,198 fatalities resulted overall; 128 of them were Americans. |
| 128 | 1933 | Early-May 1933 tornado outbreak sequence | Tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States, Southeastern United States | | At least 27 tornadoes, including the following: Tompkinsville–Russell Springs, Kentucky: 36 deaths Livingston–Byrdstown, Tennessee: 35 deaths Brent–Pelham, Alabama: 21 deaths Anderson–Fountain Inn, South Carolina: 19 deaths |
| 128 | 1945 | Tornado outbreak of April 12, 1945 | Tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States | | Including 69 deaths from a tornado in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma |
| 128 | 1956 | 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision | Accident – aircraft | Grand Canyon, Arizona | | Parts of wreckage still visible. Deadliest air disaster in U.S. at that time; led to creation of Federal Aviation Administration two years later. |
| 125 | 1972 | Buffalo Creek flood | Accident – dam failure | Logan County, West Virginia | | |
| 123 | 1923 | Dawson, New Mexico | Accident – coal mine | Dawson, New Mexico | | |
| 123 | 1929 | Cleveland Clinic fire of 1929 | Fire (building) | Cleveland, Ohio | | Nitrate film combustion triggered the fire |
| 123 | 1971 | February 1971 Mississippi Delta tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Southern United States, Ohio River Valley | $45,900,000 (1971) | 19 tornadoes, including the following: Fitler–Cary–Swiftown–Morgan City–Quito–Oxberry–Oxford, Mississippi/Middleton, Tennessee: 58 deaths Waverly, Louisiana/Mayersville–Delta City–Inverness–Moorehead, Mississippi: 47 deaths |
| 121 | 1917 | Hastings mine explosion | Accident – coal mine | Las Animas County, Colorado | | |
| 120 | 1857 | Mountain Meadows Massacre | mass murder | Utah Territory | | Mormon settlers executed between 120 and 140 men, women, and children from the Baker-Fancher party wagon train after accepting their surrender from a five-day siege and offering them safe passage through Utah Territory. |
| 120 | 1933 | Long Beach earthquake | Earthquake | Long Beach, California | $50,000,000 (1933) | |
| 120 | 2005 | Hurricane Rita | Tropical cyclone | Louisiana | $18,500,000,000 (2005) | Including 23 deaths from a bus fire during evacuations in Wilmer, Texas |
| 119-120 | 1863 | New York City draft riots | Riot | New York City, New York | $1–5 million (1863) | It was the worst civil unrest in modern U.S. history. Required diverting Union Army troops from the front to put down. |
| 119 | 1924 | Benwood mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Benwood, West Virginia | | |
| 119 | 1946 | Winecoff Hotel fire | Fire (building) | Atlanta, Georgia | | |
| 119 | 1951 | West Frankfort, Illinois | Accident – coal mine | West Frankfort, Illinois | | |
| 119 | 1972 | Hurricane Agnes | Tropical cyclone | Eastern United States | $2,100,000,000 | |
| 117 | 1899 | New Richmond tornado | Tornado | New Richmond, Wisconsin | >$300,000 ($11.3 million in 2024 dollars). | Tornado hit the same time the circus was in town. |
| 116 | 1918 | 1918 San Fermín earthquake | Earthquake | Puerto Rico | | |
| 115 | 1837 | Wreck of the Mexico | Accident – shipwreck | Long Beach, New York | | |
| 115 | 1902 | Shiloh Baptist Church stampede | Stampede | Birmingham, Alabama | | |
| 115 | 1938 | Los Angeles flood of 1938 | Flood | Los Angeles, California | $78 million (1938) | Deadliest disaster in Los Angeles history |
| 115 | 1944 | USS St. Augustine (PG-54) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Cape May, New Jersey | | |
| 115 | 1964 | Good Friday earthquake | Earthquake, tsunami | Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, California | $1,800,000,000 (2006) | |
| 114 | 1902 | 1902 Goliad, Texas tornado | Tornado | Goliad, Texas | | |
| 114 | 1924 | April 1924 tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Southern United States | | Including 53 deaths from a single tornado in South Carolina |
| 114 | 1981 | Hyatt Regency walkway collapse | Accident – collapse | Kansas City, Missouri | | |
| 113 | 1975 | Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 | Accident – aircraft | New York City, New York | | |
| 112 | 1902 | Rolling Mill Mine | Accident – coal mine | Johnstown, Pennsylvania | | |
| 112+ | 1905 | 1905 Snyder tornado | Tornado | Snyder, Oklahoma | | |
| 112 | 1915 | Layland, West Virginia § Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Layland, West Virginia | | |
| 112+ | 1916 | June 1916 tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Southern United States | | Including 25 deaths from a single tornado family in Arkansas |
| 112 | 1989 | United Airlines Flight 232 | Accident – aircraft | Sioux City, Iowa | | |
| 112 | 2008 | Hurricane Ike | Tropical cyclone | Texas; Louisiana | $30,000,000,000 (2008) | 34 people still missing as of 2013 |
| 111 | 1928 | SS Vestris | Accident – shipwreck | Off Hampton Roads, Virginia | | |
| 111 | 1947 | Centralia mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Centralia, Illinois | | |
| 111 | 1971 | Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 | Accident – aircraft | Juneau, Alaska | | |
| 110 | 1869 | Avondale Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Plymouth, Pennsylvania | | |
| 110 | 1996 | ValuJet Flight 592 | Accident – aircraft | Florida Everglades | | |
| 109 | 1891 | Mammoth Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania | | |
| 106 | 2017 | Hurricane Harvey | Tropical cyclone | Texas, Louisiana | $125,000,000,000 (2017) | Tied with Hurricane Katrina as the costliest natural disaster in United States history. One additional death occurred in Guyana. |
| 103 | 1837 | Racer's hurricane | Tropical cyclone, shipwreck | Mexico, Texas, Gulf Coast | | Fatalities estimated; including 90 deaths from the wreck of SS Home off Cape Hatteras; additional two deaths occurred in the Republic of Texas |
| 103 | 1884 | SS City of Columbus | Accident – shipwreck | Off Aquinnah, Massachusetts | | |
| 102 | 1955 | 1955 Great Plains tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Central United States | | 46 tornadoes, including the following: Udall, Kansas: 80 deaths Blackwell, Oklahoma: 20 deaths |
| 102+ | 2023 | 2023 Hawaii wildfires | Wildfire | Hawaii | | |
| 101 | 1918 | Great Train Wreck of 1918 | Accident – railroad | Nashville, Tennessee | | Deadliest rail accident in U.S. history |
| 101 | 1963 | Northwest Airlines Flight 293 | Accident – aircraft | Near Annette Island, Alaska | | |
| 101 | 1972 | Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 | Accident – aircraft | Miami, Florida | | |
| 100 | 1812 | 1812 Louisiana hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Louisiana | | Fatalities estimated |
| 100+ | 1850 | Anglo-Norman (steamboat) | Boiler explosion | New Orleans, Louisiana | | Fatalities estimated |
| 100+ | 1852 | Saluda (steamship) | Accident – shipwreck | Lexington, Missouri | | |
| 100–125 | 1865 | SS Pewabic | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Huron | | |
| 100 | 1892 | Krebs, Oklahoma § 1892 mining explosion | Accident – coal mine | Krebs, Oklahoma (then Choctaw nation, Indian Territory) | | Natural gas explosion |
| 100+ | 1899 | Great Blizzard of 1899 | Winter storm, cold wave | Contiguous United States | | |
| 100 | 1900 | 1900 Guam typhoon | Tropical cyclone | Guam | | |
| 100 | 1918 | T. A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant explosion | Accident – explosion | Sayreville, New Jersey | | Fatalities estimated |
| 100+ | 1937 | Elixir sulfanilamide | Mass poisoning | United States | | |
| 100 | 1978 | Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978 | Blizzard | Northeastern United States | $1,075,000,000 (2010) | Fatalities estimated |
| 100 | 2003 | The Station nightclub fire | Fire (building) | West Warwick, Rhode Island | | 4th-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history, killing 100 people and injuring more than 200. |
| 100 | 2022 | December 2022 North American winter storm | Winter storm | Pacific Northwest, Central United States, Eastern United States | | Six additional deaths were reported in Canada |
| 99 | 1880 | Marshfield Cyclone | Tornado | Springfield metropolitan area, Missouri | $1,000,000 | |
| 99 | 1968 | USS Scorpion (SSN-589) | Accident – submarine | North Atlantic Ocean 1500 km west of Madeira | | U.S. Navy investigation of cause was inconclusive, although suggested an internal hydrogen explosion may have been followed by collapse of hull, followed by immediately sinking to ocean floor, killing all hands. |
| 99 | 2017 | Hurricane Irma | Tropical cyclone | Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands, Eastern United States (particularly Florida) | $53,400,000,000 (2017) | Includes three deaths and $1 billion (2017 USD) in damage in Puerto Rico, and four deaths and $2.4 billion in damage in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Storm caused an additional 35 deaths and approximately US$11.4 billion in damage across the rest of the Caribbean. |
| 98 | 1877 | USS Huron (1875) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Nags Head, North Carolina | | |
| 98 | 1890 | Sea Wing disaster | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Pepin near Lake City, Minnesota | | Strong winds toppled the excursion vessel. |
| 98 | 1922 | Knickerbocker Theatre | Roof collapse | Washington, District of Columbia | | Roof collapsed due to the eponymous Knickerbocker storm |
| 98 | 2021 | Surfside condominium collapse | Structural collapse | Surfside, Florida | | |
| 97 | 1904 | Eden train wreck | Accident – railroad | Pueblo, Colorado | | |
| 97 | 1974 | Pan Am Flight 806 | Accident – aircraft | Pago Pago, American Samoa | | |
| 96+ | 1875 | March 1875 Southeast tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Southeastern United States | | Including at least 28 deaths from a single tornado between Georgia and South Carolina |
| 96 | 1910 | Wellington avalanche | Avalanche | Wellington, Washington | | Avalanche hit 2 trains in Tye Canyon |
| 96 | 1977 | Southern Airways Flight 242; Tornado outbreak of April 1977 | Accident – aircraft; tornado outbreak | New Hope, Paulding County, Georgia; tornadoes affected Southeastern United States | | Storm system caused the crash of Flight 242, killing 72 people; and spawned an outbreak of 21 tornadoes, killing 24 people, including an F5 which killed 22 people near Birmingham, Alabama |
| 96–98 | 1986 | Dupont Plaza Hotel arson | mass murder – arson | San Juan, Puerto Rico | | |
| 95 | 1954 | Hurricane Hazel | Tropical cyclone | North Carolina; South Carolina | | U.S. victims only |
| 95 | 1958 | Our Lady of the Angels School fire | Fire (building) | Chicago, Illinois | | |
| 95 | 1962 | American Airlines Flight 1 | Accident – aircraft | New York City, New York | | |
| 95 | 2021 | Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021 | Tornado outbreak | Southern United States, Midwestern United States | | Including 6 non-tornadic and indirect deaths; 71 tornadoes, including the following: Western Kentucky: 58 deaths (including one indirect) Bowling Green, Kentucky: 17 deaths (including one indirect) |
| 94 | 1969 | February 1969 nor'easter | Winter storm | Northeastern United States | | |
| 93 | 1918 | Malbone Street wreck | Accident – railroad | Brooklyn, New York | | Some accounts give death toll as 101. Deadliest accident on New York City subway, deadliest rail disaster in city's history and deadliest mass-transit accident in U.S. history. |
| 93 | 1939 | 1939 California tropical storm | Tropical cyclone | Southern California | | Including 48 offshore deaths |
| 93 | 2021 | Hurricane Ida | Tropical cyclone | Gulf Coast of the United States, Eastern United States | | |
| 92 | 1876 | Ashtabula River railroad disaster | Accident – railroad | Ashtabula, Ohio | | Fatalities approximated |
| 92 | 1919 | Tornado outbreak of April 1919 | Tornado outbreak | Great Plains | | At least 12 tornadoes, including the following: Mineola–Mount Pleasant, Texas: 24 deaths Blue Ridge–Ravenna, Texas: 18 deaths Eustace–Grand Saline, Texas: 17 deaths |
| 92 | 1919 | Baltimore Mine Tunnel disaster | Accident – coal mine | Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania | | |
| 92 | 1974 | TWA Flight 514 | Accident – aircraft | Berryville, Virginia | | |
| 92 | 2024 | Mid-January 2024 North American winter storm | Winter storm | Contiguous United States | | |
| 91 | 1972 | Sunshine Mine | Accident – silver mine | Big Creek, Idaho | | Mass carbon monoxide poisoning |
| 90 | 1899 | Windsor Hotel fire | Fire (building) | Manhattan, New York | | Fatalities estimated |
| 89 | 1973 | Delta Air Lines Flight 723 | Accident – aircraft | Boston, Massachusetts | | |
| 88–145 | 1860 | Pemberton Mill | Structural collapse | Lawrence, Massachusetts | | |
| 88 | 1907 | SS Columbia (1880) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Shelter Cove, California | | |
| 88 | 2000 | Alaska Airlines Flight 261 | Accident – aircraft | Pacific Ocean near Anacapa Island, California | | |
| 87 | 1918 | Columbia (collapsed paddle steamer) | Accident – shipwreck | Creve Coeur, Illinois | | |
| 87 | 1952 | 1952 Moses Lake C-124 crash | Accident – aircraft | Near Moses Lake, Washington | | |
| 87 | 1990 | Happy Land fire | mass murder – arson | New York City, New York | | Deadliest mass murder by a single person in U.S. history. |
| 86 | 1910 | Great Fire of 1910 | Wildfire | Washington, Idaho, Montana | | |
| 86 | 1918 | Hammond Circus Train Wreck | Accident – railroad | Hammond, Indiana | | |
| 86 | 1993 | Waco siege | Police raid – Fire | Branch Davidian Complex, Waco, Texas | | 6 Davidians and 4 police killed in initial raid. Weeks later during final FBI assault, 76 Davidians died in a fire of disputed origin. |
| 85 | 1878 | USS Stars and Stripes (1861) | Accident – shipwreck | Currituck, North Carolina | | |
| 85–90 | 1924 | 1924 Lorain–Sandusky tornado | Tornado | Lorain and Sandusky, Ohio | $12,500,000 | |
| 85 | 1951 | Woodbridge train wreck | Accident – railroad | Woodbridge, New Jersey | | |
| 85+ | 1967 | Long, hot summer of 1967 | Periods of mass unrest | Major cities in the United States like, Detroit, Newark, and Milwaukee | | The riots were mainly caused by racial tension, poverty, and police brutality. These were one of many instances of mass racial violence in the United States |
| 85 | 1964 | Paradise Airlines Flight 901A | Accident – aircraft | Near Lake Tahoe, Nevada | | |
| 85 | 1968 | Braniff Flight 352 | Accident – aircraft | Dawson, Texas | | |
| 85 | 1980 | MGM Grand fire | Fire (building) | Las Vegas, Nevada | | |
| 85 | 2018 | Camp Fire | Wildfire | Paradise, California | | Deadliest fire in California history. |
| 84 | 1911 | Cross Mountain Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Briceville, Tennessee | | |
| 84+ | 1916 | 1916 Charleston hurricane | Tropical cyclone, flood | South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia | | Most deaths were due to a flood event |
| 84+ | 1927 | Great Vermont Flood of 1927 | Flood | Vermont | | |
| 84 | 1965 | Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 | Accident – aircraft | New York City, New York | | |
| 84 | 1977 | Johnstown flood of 1977 | Flash flood | Johnstown, Pennsylvania | $300,000,000 | The flood occurred when an extraordinary amount of rain came down in the Conemaugh Valley in a short period of time. Nearly 12 inches were measured in 10 hours. The National Weather Service later estimated that this amount of rain in that location should happen less than once every 1,000 years. |
| 84 | 1999 | Hurricane Floyd | Tropical cyclone | East Coast of the United States | | |
| 84 | 2007 | January 2007 North American ice storm | Winter storm | Central United States, Eastern United States | | Additional three deaths in Canada |
| 83 | 1966 | American Flyers Flight 280 | Accident – aircraft | Near Ardmore, Oklahoma | | |
| 83 | 1969 | Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 | Accident – aircraft | Shelby County, Indiana | | A Piper Cherokee 140, piloted by a student who was a week away from getting his private pilot's license, collided with an Allegheny Airlines DC-9. The flight originated in Boston and had stopped in Baltimore and Cincinnati. |
| 82 | 1930 | Millfield Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Dover Township, Athens County, Ohio | | |
| 82 | 1967 | Piedmont Airlines Flight 22 | Accident – aircraft | Hendersonville, North Carolina | | |
| 82 | 1986 | 1986 Cerritos mid-air collision | Accident – aircraft | Cerritos, California | | |
| 81–85 | 1887 | Great Chatsworth train wreck | Accident – railroad | Chatsworth, Illinois | | |
| 81 | 1963 | Pan Am Flight 214 | Accident – aircraft | Elkton, Maryland | | Lightning strike |
| 81 | 1963 | 1963 Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion | Accident – explosion | Indianapolis, Indiana | | |

## 41 to 80 deaths

| Fatalities | Year | Article | Type | Location | Damage (US$) | Comments |
| 80+ | 1813 | USS Hamilton (1809) and USS Scourge (1812) | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Ontario | | Two ships sank during a squall |
| 80+ | 1880 | PS Alpena | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Michigan | | |
| 80+ | 1864 | Washoe | Boiler explosion | Steamboat Slough, California | | |
| 80+ | 1910 | Palos No. 3 coal mine | Accident – coal mine | Jefferson County, Alabama | | |
| 80+ | 1960 | March 1960 nor'easter | Winter storm | Northeastern United States | | |
| 80 | 1960 | World Airways Flight 830 | Accident – aircraft | Barrigada, Guam | | |
| 79 | 1943 | Frankford Junction train wreck | Accident – railroad | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | | |
| 78 | 1862 | Allegheny Arsenal | Accident – explosion | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | | Largest civilian death toll during American Civil War |
| 78 | 1875 | Precious Blood Church fire | Fire (building) | Holyoke, Massachusetts | | |
| 78 | 1911 | Austin Dam failure (Pennsylvania) | Dam failure | Keating Township, Potter County, Pennsylvania | | |
| 78 | 1950 | Kew Gardens train crash | Accident – railroad | Kew Gardens, New York | | Deadliest surface rail accident in New York City |
| 78 | 1961 | TWA Flight 529 | Accident – aircraft | Hinsdale, Illinois | | |
| 78 | 1968 | Farmington Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Farmington, West Virginia | | |
| 78 | 1976 | MV George Prince ferry disaster | Accident – shipwreck | Mississippi River, Louisiana | | Deadliest ferry disaster in U.S. history |
| 78 | 1982 | Air Florida Flight 90 | Accident – aircraft | District of Columbia | | |
| 77 | 1923 | Cleveland School fire | Fire (building) | Camden, South Carolina | | |
| 77 | 1947 | North American blizzard of 1947 | Winter storm | Mid-Atlantic | | |
| 77 | 1929 | SS San Juan | Accident – shipwreck | Off California | | Collided with S.C.T. Dodd |
| 77 | 1961 | Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8 | Accident – aircraft | Richmond, Virginia | | |
| 76 | 1872 | Skeleton Cave Massacre | Massacre | Salt River Canyon, Arizona | | |
| 76 | 1985 | 1985 United States–Canada tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ontario | $1,270,000,000 (2019) | Including two tornadoes which crossed the Ohio–Pennsylvania border and killed 16 and 18 people respectively; additional 14 deaths in Ontario |
| 75 | 1863 | Chunky Creek train wreck | Accident – railroad | Newton County, Mississippi | | Fatalities estimated |
| 75 | 1943 | Smith Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Between Bearcreek and Washoe, Montana | | 74 miners and one rescue worker |
| 75 | 1965 | Hurricane Betsy | Tropical cyclone | Florida, Louisiana | | |
| 75 | 1970 | Southern Airways Flight 932 | Accident – aircraft | Ceredo, West Virginia | | Deadliest sports tragedy in U.S. history; killed virtually all of the Marshall University Thundering Herd Football team, coaches and boosters when it crashed on approach for landing in a thunderstorm. |
| 74 | 1949 | St. Anthony's Hospital fire | Fire (building) | Effingham, Illinois | | |
| 74 | 1868 | United States and America steamboat disaster | Boat collision | Near Warsaw, Kentucky | | Fatalities estimated |
| 74 | 1955 | Hurricane Connie | Tropical cyclone | East Coast of the United States, Puerto Rico | | 27 deaths in North Carolina, 14 in the Chesapeake Bay, 14 in New York, six in Pennsylvania, six in New Jersey, four in Washington, D.C., and three in Puerto Rico |
| 74 | 1956 | Linea Aeropostal Venezolana Flight 253 (June 1956) | Accident – aircraft | Atlantic Ocean, off New Jersey | | |
| 74 | 1969 | Melbourne-Evans collison | Accident – maritime | South China Sea | | |
| 73 | 1913 | Italian Hall disaster | Stampede | Calumet, Michigan | | Second-largest loss of life within the state of Michigan. |
| 73 | 1925 | 1925 Florida tropical storm | Tropical cyclone | East Coast of the United States | | |
| 73 | 1933 | USS Akron | Accident – Airship | Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of New Jersey | | Deadliest airship disaster in history. |
| 73 | 1990 | Avianca Flight 52 | Accident – aircraft | Cove Neck, New York | | |
| 72 | 1811 | Richmond Theatre fire | Fire (building) | Richmond, Virginia | | |
| 72 | 1886 | 1886 Sauk Rapids tornado | Tornado | Central Minnesota | $400,000 | |
| 72–79+ | 1927 | 1927 St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado | Tornado | St. Louis, Missouri | $22,000,000 | |
| 72 | 1932 | Observation (steamboat) | Accident – explosion | East River, New York City | | |
| 72 | 1943 | Rennert railroad accident | Accident – railroad | Rennert, North Carolina | | |
| 72 | 1957 | Warrenton Nursing Home fire | Fire (building) | Warrenton, Missouri | | |
| 72 | 1968 | Tornado outbreak of May 1968 | Tornado outbreak | Central United States, Southern United States | $52,500,000 | Including a tornado which struck Jonesboro, Arkansas and killed 35 people in total |
| 72 | 1974 | Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 | Accident – aircraft | Charlotte, North Carolina | | |
| 71 | 1878 | Gale of 1878 | Tropical cyclone | East Coast of the United States | | |
| 71 | 1978 | Great Blizzard of 1978 | Winter storm | Great Lakes region | | |
| 70+ | 1883 | Newhall House Hotel Fire | Fire (building) | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | | |
| 70 | 1967 | TWA Flight 128 | Accident – aircraft | Constance, Kentucky | | |
| 70 | 1954 | Hurricane Carol | Tropical cyclone | Mid-Atlantic United States, New England | | |
| 70 | 1975 | Great Storm of 1975 | Blizzard, tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States, Southeastern United States | | 58 deaths from blizzard, 12 from tornadoes |
| 70 | 1985 | Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 | Accident – aircraft | Reno, Nevada | | |
| 69 | 1936 | Pittsburgh Flood of 1936 | Flood | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area | $3,000,000,000 (2006) | |
| 69 | 1989 | Loma Prieta earthquake | Earthquake | San Francisco Bay Area, California | $6,000,000,000 (1989) | Including 42 deaths due to the collapse of the Cypress Street Viaduct |
| 68 | 1882 | 1882 Grinnell tornado | Tornado | Grinnell and Malcolm | | |
| 68 | 1994 | American Eagle Flight 4184 | Accident – aircraft | Roselawn, Indiana | | |
| 67 | 2025 | 2025 Potomac River mid-air collision | Accident – aircraft | Potomac River near Washington D.C. | | Deadliest accident involving a helicopter in U.S. history |
| 66 | 1888 | Mud Run disaster | Accident – railroad | Eastern Pennsylvania | | |
| 66 | 1905 | USS Bennington (PG-4) § Boiler explosion | Accident – explosion | San Diego, California | | |
| 66 | 1955 | 1955 Hawaii R6D-1 crash | Accident – aircraft | Waianae Range, Hawaii Territory | | |
| 66 | 1955 | United Airlines Flight 409 | Accident – aircraft | Medicine Bow Peak, Wyoming | | |
| 65+ | 1902 | Yacolt Burn | Wildfires | Washington, Oregon | | |
| 65 | 1959 | American Airlines Flight 320 | Accident – aircraft | New York City, New York | | |
| 65 | 1971 | Sylmar earthquake | Earthquake | Greater Los Angeles Area, California | $500,000,000 | |
| 65 | 2009 | January 2009 North American ice storm | Winter storm | Central United States | | |
| 64-77 | 1879 | Fort Robinson massacre | Massacre | Fort Robinson, Nebraska | | |
| 64 | 1903 | Connellsville train wreck | Accident – railroad | Connellsville, Pennsylvania | | |
| 64 | 1983 | 1983 United States embassy bombing | Terrorism | Beirut, Lebanon | | |
| 63 | 1940 | Sonman Mine explosion | Accident – coal mine | Portage Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania | | |
| 63 | 1960 | Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710 | Accident – aircraft | Tell City, Indiana | | Wing failure resulting from freak vibrations in clear weather turbulence was the probable cause. |
| 63 | 1963 | Golden Age Nursing Home fire | Fire (building) | Fitchville, Ohio | | |
| 63 | 1992 | 1992 Los Angeles riots | Riot | Los Angeles County, California | ~$1,000,000,000 | An incident of civil unrest sparked by the beating of Rodney King. It was the second deadliest incident of civil unrest in modern U.S. history since the New York City Draft Riots. |
| 62 | 1960 | Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 | Accident – aircraft | Boston, Massachusetts | | |
| 62 | 1985 | 1985 Election Day floods | Flood | Virginia, West Virginia | | |
| 61 | 1944 | Freckleton air disaster | Military aircraft, Accident | Freckleton, England | | An American United States Army Air Forces Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber crashed into the center of the village of Freckleton. It crashed into a school, 3 houses, and a cafe. Sixty-one individuals, including 38 children and two teenagers, were killed. Ten American servicemen were among the fatalities. |
| 61 | 1946 | La Salle Hotel | Fire (building) | Chicago, Illinois | | |
| 61 | 1960 | Great Chilean earthquake | Tsunami | Hawaii, Alaska | $500,000 (2005) | 2,290 to 6,600 killed and $3,500,000,000 (2005) in damage worldwide. 61 killed in Hilo, Hawaii. $500,000 in U.S. property damage |
| 61 | 1992 | Hurricane Andrew | Tropical cyclone | Florida, Louisiana | $27,250,000,000 (1992) | |
| 61 | 2017 | 2017 Las Vegas shooting | Mass shooting | Paradise, Nevada | | 60 victims and 1 perpetrator, with the perpetrator committing suicide. The deadliest mass shooting by an individual in U.S. history. |
| 60+ | 1856 | PS Niagara | Accident – shipwreck | Off Belgium, Wisconsin | | |
| 60–72 | 1864 | Shohola train wreck | Accident – railroad | Shohola, Pennsylvania | | Train collision along upper Delaware River. Official death toll is 65. |
| 60 | 1886 | 1886 Charleston earthquake | Earthquake | South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, East coast of the United States | $5,000,000–6,000,000 | Massive earthquake starting in South Carolina, spreading across the East Coast of the US. |
| 60 | 1966 | Hurricane Inez | Tropical cyclone | Florida Keys, Gulf Coast of the United States | | Including 45 deaths from the capsizing of a boat in the Straits of Florida and 11 deaths from a helicopter crash in the Gulf of Mexico |
| 60 | 1967 | 1967 Chicago blizzard | Winter storm | Midwestern United States | | 26 deaths in Chicago |
| 59–67 | 1856 | Great Train Wreck of 1856 | Accident – railroad | Fort Washington, Pennsylvania | | |
| 59 | 1908 | Hanna Mine disasters | Accident – coal mine | Carbon County, Wyoming | | |
| 59 | 1957 | May 1957 Central Plains tornado outbreak sequence | Tornado outbreak sequence | Great Plains, Midwestern United States | | Including 44 deaths from the Ruskin Heights tornado |
| 59 | 2015 | December 2015 North American storm complex | Tornado outbreak, winter storm, flood | Southwestern, Central, and New England | $1,200,000,000 (2015) | |
| 59 | 2018 | Hurricane Michael | Tropical cyclone | Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia | $25,000,000,000 | Category 5 hurricane that caused 16 direct and 43 indirect deaths in the US, as well as 15 in Central America |
| 58+ | 1865 | Yosemite explosion | Boiler explosion | Sacramento River | | |
| 58 | 1896 | Twin Shaft disaster | Accident – coal mine | Pittston, Pennsylvania | | |
| 58 | 1905 | Grover Shoe Factory disaster | Accident – explosion | Brockton, Massachusetts | | |
| 58 | 1950 | Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 | Accident – aircraft | Lake Michigan | | Airplane wreckage never found |
| 58 | 1951 | 1951 Miami Airlines C-46 crash | Accident – aircraft | Elizabeth, New Jersey | | First of three plane crashes in Elizabeth over three months |
| 58 | 1964 | Eastern Air Lines Flight 304 | Accident – aircraft | Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana | | |
| 58 | 1965 | American Airlines Flight 383 | Accident – aircraft | Cincinnati, Ohio | | |
| 58 | 1966 | Tornado outbreak of March 3–4, 1966 | Tornado | Southeastern United States | $75,500,000 | All 58 deaths due to the Candlestick Park tornado |
| 58 | 1967 | 1967 Oak Lawn tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Upper Midwest | | 45 tornadoes, including the following: Oak Lawn–Evergreen Park–Chicago South Side, Illinois: 33 deaths Belvidere, Illinois: 24 deaths |
| 58 | 1979 | 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States, Southern United States | | Including the Wichita Falls, Texas tornado which killed 42 people |
| 57 | 1903 | 1903 New Jersey hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Mid-Atlantic | | |
| 57 | 1919 | 1919 Fergus Falls tornado | Tornado | Fergus Falls, Minnesota | $4,000,000 | |
| 57 | 1980 | 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens | Volcano | Washington | $1,100,000,000 | |
| 57 | 1984 | 1984 Carolinas tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina | | |
| 57 | 1994 | Northridge earthquake | Earthquake | Greater Los Angeles area, California | $23,000,000,000 | |
| 57 | 1999 | 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Tennessee | $1,500,000,000 (2005) | 66 tornadoes, including the 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado, which killed 36 people; also including seven non-tornadic deaths |
| 57 | 2007 | Mid-December 2007 North American winter storms | Winter storm | Central United States, Eastern United States | | Two winter storms in quick succession, the latter of which caused an additional six deaths in Canada |
| 57 | 2008 | 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, and Illinois | $1,200,000,000 | Including the Castalian Springs–Lafayette, Tennessee/Tompkinsville, Kentucky tornado which killed 22 people |
| 56 | 1844 | Lucy Walker steamboat disaster | Accident – explosion, shipwreck | Ohio River, near New Albany, Indiana | | Exact number of fatalities unknown |
| 56 | 1875 | City of Waco | Accident – shipwreck | Off Galveston, Texas | | |
| 56 | 1904 | New Market train wreck | Accident – railroad | New Market, Tennessee | | |
| 56 | 1912 | Tornado outbreak of April 20–22, 1912 | Tornado outbreak | High Plains, Upper Midwest, Southern United States | | |
| 55 | 1880 | SS Narragansett | Accident – shipwreck, fire | Long Island Sound | | Fatalities estimated |
| 55 | 1898 | 1898 Fort Smith, Arkansas, tornado | Tornado | Fort Smith, Arkansas | | |
| 55+ | 1905 | Mataafa Storm | Winter storm, shipwrecks | Great Lakes region | | Approximately 29 vessels destroyed or damaged, including SS Mataafa and SS Ira H. Owen |
| 55 | 1943 | Gulf Hotel fire | Fire (building) | Houston, Texas | | |
| 55 | 1949 | Eastern Air Lines Flight 537 | Accident – aircraft | Alexandria, Virginia | | |
| 55 | 1975 | Hurricane Eloise | Tropical cyclone | Puerto Rico, Eastern United States | | |
| 55 | 2016 | January 2016 United States blizzard | Blizzard | Eastern United States | $500,000,000, to $3,000,000,000 (2016) | |
| 54 | 1932 | 1932 Moweaqua Coal Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Moweaqua, Illinois | | |
| 54 | 2004 | Hurricane Ivan | Tropical cyclone | Texas, Florida | $13,000,000,000 (2004) | Damage and death figures are for the U.S. only. Storm caused an additional 67 deaths and ~US$7 billion in damage across the Caribbean. |
| 54 | 2018 | Hurricane Florence | Tropical cyclone | Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina | $24,230,000,000 | Category 4 hurricane that caused major damage and 54 recorded fatalities in the US; 24 direct and 30 indirect. |
| 53 | 1906 | 1906 Atlantic City train wreck | Accident – railroad | Atlantic City, New Jersey | | |
| 53 | 1906 | 1906 Washington, D.C., train wreck | Accident – railroad | Washington, D.C. | | |
| 53 | 1925 | Coal Glen mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Farmville, Chatham County, North Carolina | | |
| 53 | 1942 | Battle of Dutch Harbor | Military strike – bombing | Unalaska, Alaska | | 43 American and 10 Japanese fatalities. Deadliest attack on continental U.S. by a foreign power since the Mexican–American War. |
| 53 | 1947 | Eastern Air Lines Flight 605 | Accident – aircraft | Near Port Deposit, Maryland | | |
| 53 | 1949 | 1949 Strato-Freight Curtiss C-46A crash | Accident – aircraft | West of San Juan-Isla Grande Airport, Puerto Rico | | |
| 53 | 1965 | 1965 Searcy missile silo fire | Fire – underground | Searcy, Arkansas | | |
| 53 | 2008 | Hurricane Gustav | Tropical cyclone | Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida | | |
| 53 | 2022 | 2022 San Antonio migrant deaths | Suspected migrant smuggling operation | San Antonio, Texas | | Twelve others hospitalized. |
| 52 | 1910 | Green Mountain train wreck | Accident – railroad | Green Mountain, Iowa | | |
| 52 | 1929 | SS Milwaukee (1902) | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Michigan | | |
| 52 | 1940 | Hercules Powder plant disaster | Accident – explosion | Roxbury, New Jersey | | Fatalities estimated |
| 52 | 1940 | 1940 South Carolina hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia | | |
| 52 | 1947 | United Airlines Flight 608 | Accident – aircraft | Bryce Canyon, Utah | | |
| 52 | 1952 | Pan Am Flight 526A | Accident – aircraft | Off San Juan, Puerto Rico | | |
| 52 | 1952 | 1952 Mount Gannett C-124 crash | Accident – aircraft | Mount Gannett, Alaska Territory | | |
| 51 | 1947 | 1947 Fort Lauderdale hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi | | |
| 51 | 1956 | SS Andrea Doria, MV Astoria | Accident – shipwreck | Off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts | | |
| 51 | 1978 | Willow Island disaster | Accident – Construction | Willow Island, West Virginia | | Scaffolding fell 166 feet (51 m) with insufficiently cured concrete |
| 51 | 2003 | Hurricane Isabel | Tropical cyclone, Flooding | Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Ontario | 5,500,000,000 (2003) | Worst hurricane to hit Virginia |
| 50 | 1852 | Henry Clay (steamboat) | Accident – shipwreck | Riverdale, Bronx, New York | | Fatalities estimated |
| 50+ | 1871 | Port Huron Fire of 1871 | Wildfire | Port Huron, Michigan | | |
| 50 | 1896 | 1896 Atlantic City rail crash | Accident – railroad | Atlantic City, New Jersey | | |
| 50–52 | 1918 | Split Rock, New York | Accident – explosion | Split Rock, New York | | |
| 50 | 1925 | Rockport train wreck | Accident – railroad | Hackettstown, New Jersey | | |
| 50 | 1947 | Pennsylvania Central Airlines Flight 410 | Accident – aircraft | Near Charles Town, West Virginia | | |
| 50 | 1951 | United Airlines Flight 610 | Accident – aircraft | West of Fort Collins, Colorado | | |
| 50 | 1951 | United Airlines Flight 615 | Accident – aircraft | Near Decoto, California | | |
| 50 | 1960 | Capital Airlines Flight 20 | Accident – aircraft | Holdcroft, Virginia | | |
| 50 | 1971 | Hughes Airwest Flight 706 | Accident – aircraft | San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County, California | | |
| 50 | 1993 | Great Flood of 1993 | Flood | Midwest | $15,000,000,000 | |
| 50 | 2003 | Tornado outbreak sequence of May 2003 | Tornado outbreak sequence | Great Plains, Eastern United States | $4,100,000,000 | Including nine non-tornadic deaths |
| 50 | 2009 | Colgan Air Flight 3407 | Accident – aircraft | Clarence Center, New York | | |
| 50 | 2016 | Orlando nightclub shooting | Terrorism | Orlando, Florida | | 49 victims and 1 perpetrator, who was shot and killed by police. The second-deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, after the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. |
| 49 | 1867 | Angola Horror | Accident – railroad | Angola, New York | | |
| 49 | 1892 | Giant Powder Company | Accident – explosions | Albany, California | | Explosion in explosives manufacturing plant destroyed facility, caused extensive damage in nearby Berkeley. Official death toll was 49, though estimates of unrecovered bodies ran higher. |
| 49 | 1917 | Shepherdsville train wreck | Accident – railroad | Shepherdsville, Kentucky | | |
| 49 | 1936 | 1936 Cordele–Greensboro tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Southeastern United States | | Including 23 deaths from a tornado near Cordele, Georgia |
| 49 | 1953 | Tornado outbreak sequence of Early-December 1953 | Tornado outbreak sequence | Southeastern United States | $45,709,000 | Including 38 deaths from the Vicksburg, Mississippi tornado |
| 49 | 1958 | United Airlines Flight 736 | Accident – aircraft | Enterprise, Nevada | | |
| 49 | 1989 | Hurricane Hugo | Tropical cyclone | East Coast of the United States. | $7,000,000,000 (1989) | Damage figure for U.S. only. At least 111 total deaths, with 37 in the continental U.S., as far north as Michigan, and 12 in the U.S. possession of Puerto Rico. |
| 49 | 2004 | Hurricane Frances | Tropical cyclone | Florida | $9,000,000,000 | |
| 49 | 2006 | Comair Flight 5191 | Accident – aircraft | Lexington, Kentucky | | |
| 49 | 2011 | Hurricane Irene | Tropical cyclone | Puerto Rico, East Coast of the United States | $15,800,000,000 (2011) | 49 fatalities in U.S., including 1 in Puerto Rico, with 10 additional fatalities elsewhere. |
| 48 | 1853 | Norwalk rail accident | Accident – railroad | Norwalk, Connecticut | | |
| 48 | 1866 | Memphis massacre of 1866 | Mass racial violence | Memphis, Tennessee | | |
| 48 | 1924 | USS Mississippi (BB-41) turret explosion | | San Pedro, Los Angeles, California | | |
| 48 | 1942 | Joliet Army Ammunition Plant | Accident – explosion | Will County, Illinois | | |
| 48 | 1944 | Bagley train wreck | Accident – railroad | West of Ogden, Utah | | |
| 48 | 1958 | Newark Bay rail accident | Accident – railroad | Newark Bay, New Jersey | | |
| 48 | 2024 | Hurricane Beryl | Tropical cyclone | Texas, Louisiana, Ohio Valley, Northeastern United States | | |
| 47 | 1912 | 1912 United States cold wave | Cold wave | Midwestern United States | | |
| 47+ | 1917 | March 1917 tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Ohio Valley | | Including 46 deaths from a single tornado in Indiana and Kentucky |
| 47 | 1922 | Argonaut Mine | Accident – gold mine | Jackson, California | | |
| 47 | 1933 | 1933 Chesapeake–Potomac hurricane | Tropical cyclone | East Coast of the United States | | |
| 47 | 1938 | Custer Creek train wreck | Accident – railroad | Saugus, Montana | | |
| 47 | 1944 | Stockton train wreck | Accident – railroad | Stockton, Georgia | | |
| 47 | 1946 | Tornado outbreak of January 4–6, 1946 | Tornado outbreak | South—Central United States | | Including 15 deaths in the Log Lake–Southview–Palestine tornado, which is considered one of the worst tornadoes in the history of Texas. |
| 47 | 1958 | Capital Airlines Flight 67 | Accident – aircraft | Saginaw Bay, near Freeland, Michigan | | |
| 47 | 1989 | USS Iowa turret explosion | Accident – explosion | Caribbean Sea, off Puerto Rico | | |
| 47 | 1993 | Big Bayou Canot train disaster | Accident – railroad | Mobile, Alabama | | Deadliest train crash in Amtrak history. |
| 47 | 2016 | Hurricane Matthew | Tropical cyclone | Florida, Georgia, The Carolinas | $10,000,000,000 (2016) | Damage and death figures are for the U.S. only. Storm caused an additional 551 deaths and US$5.08 billion in damage across the Caribbean. |
| 46 | 1873 | Dixon Bridge Disaster | Accident – bridge collapse | Dixon, Illinois | | |
| 46 | 1886 | 1886 Indianola hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Indianola, Texas | | |
| 46 | 1900 | Red Ash Mine disasters | Accident – coal mine | Fire Creek, West Virginia | | |
| 46 | 1916 | Summer Street Bridge disaster | Accident – railroad | Boston, Massachusetts | | |
| 46 | 1942 | USS S-26 (SS-131) | Accident – shipwreck | Gulf of Panama | | |
| 46 | 1953 | National Airlines Flight 470 | Accident – aircraft | Gulf of Mexico, off Fort Morgan, Alabama | | |
| 46 | 1961 | Hurricane Carla | Tropical cyclone | Texas, Louisiana | $325.74 million (U.S. only) | Landed Port O'Connor, Texas on September 11 as Category 4, continued northeast across U.S., dissipated in eastern Canada on September 14. |
| 46 | 1967 | Silver Bridge collapse | Accident – Bridge collapse | Ohio River between Point Pleasant, West Virginia and Gallipolis, Ohio | | |
| 46 | 1976 | Air Manila Flight 702 | Accident – aircraft | Naval Air Station Agana, Guam | | |
| 46 | 1983 | February 1983 North American blizzard | Winter storm | Northeastern United States | | |
| 45–91 | 1871 | Staten Island Ferry § Staten Island Railway era | Accident – explosion | New York City, New York | | Boiler of Westfield II exploded at South Ferry in Manhattan |
| 45–60 | 1871 | W.R. Norman | Boiler explosion | Mississippi River | | Fatalities estimated |
| 45+ | 1912 | Tornado outbreak of April 27–29, 1912 | Tornado outbreak | Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana | | |
| 45 | 1927 | Bath School disaster | mass murder | Bath Township, Michigan | | Deadliest act of school violence in U.S. history |
| 45 | 1938 | Grundy, Virginia § Red Jacket Mine explosion | Accident - coal mine | Grundy, Virginia | | |
| 45 | 1946 | Naperville train disaster | Accident – railroad | Naperville, Illinois | | |
| 45 | 1950 | February 1950 tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Red River of the South, Lower Mississippi Valley | | Including 18 deaths from a tornado in northwestern Louisiana |
| 45 | 1951 | FV Pelican | Accident – shipwreck | Off Montauk, New York | | |
| 45 | 1962 | Continental Airlines Flight 11 | Terrorism | Unionville, Missouri | | |
| 45 | 1972 | 1972 Chicago commuter rail crash | Accident – railroad | Chicago, Illinois | | |
| 45 | 1972 | United Airlines Flight 553 | Accident – aircraft | Chicago, Illinois | | |
| 44 | 1925 | Pickwick Club collapse | Structural collapse | Boston | | |
| 44 | 1933 | March 1933 Nashville tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Arkansas, Tennessee | | At least 5 tornadoes, including the following: Sneedville–Kingsport, Tennessee: 16 deaths Nashville–Lebanon, Tennessee: 15 deaths |
| 44 | 1955 | United Airlines Flight 629 | Accident – aircraft | Longmont, Colorado | | |
| 44 | 1957 | Pan Am Flight 7 | Accident – aircraft | Pacific Ocean | | |
| 44 | 1964 | Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 | Accident – aircraft | Near Danville, California | | |
| 44 | 2017 | October 2017 Northern California wildfires | Wildfire | California | >$3,000,000,000 | The fires killed 44, injured at least 185 people, and destroyed 5,700 homes. The deadliest was the Tubbs Fire, which alone killed 22 people. |
| 43 | 1900 | Tacoma streetcar disaster | Accident – railroad | Tacoma, Washington | | |
| 43 | 1915 | 1915 Ardmore gas explosion | Accident – railroad | Ardmore, Oklahoma | $1,250,000 | Overpressured tank car filled with casing head gas exploded, causing major damage and death in the town. |
| 43 | 1940 | Doodlebug disaster | Accident – railroad | Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio | | |
| 43 | 1945 | Tornado outbreak of February 12, 1945 | Tornado outbreak | Alabama, Mississippi | $1.972 million | Damage total not adjusted for inflation. This outbreak included a devastating tornado that struck Montgomery, Alabama and the U.S. Weather Bureau would describe this tornado as "the most officially observed one in history". |
| 43 | 1947 | United Airlines Flight 521 | Accident – aircraft | LaGuardia Airport, New York | | |
| 43 | 1948 | United Airlines Flight 624 | Accident – aircraft | Near Aristes, Pennsylvania | | |
| 43 | 1951 | Cubana de Aviación Flight 493 | Accident – aircraft | Key West, Florida | | |
| 43 | 1953 | USMC R4Q NROTC crash | Accident – aircraft | Milton, Florida | | |
| 43 | 1963 | Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 | Accident – aircraft | Everglades, Florida | | |
| 43 | 1965 | United Airlines Flight 227 | Accident – aircraft | Salt Lake City, Utah | | |
| 43 | 1967 | 1967 Detroit riot | Riot | Detroit, Michigan | ~$50,000,000 | It was caused by a police raid of a "blind pig", a unlicensed, after-hours bar. The riot was the deadliest of the series of riots that occurred during 1967 in the United States. It contributed to widespread "white flight" in Detroit and economic decline as many businesses were looted, set on fire, or just simply closed or moved out of the city due to the riot. |
| 43 | 1971 | Attica Prison riot | Prison riot | Attica, New York | | State troopers opened non-stop fire on prisoners and hostages after a four-day prison uprising, killing 29 of the former and 10 of the latter; one prison guard had also died at the beginning of the riot. It is considered the deadliest one-day encounter between Americans since the Civil War. |
| 43 | 1987 | PSA Flight 1771 | Aircraft hijacking | Near Cayucos, California | | |
| 43 | 2011 | Tornado outbreak of April 14–16, 2011 | Tornado outbreak | Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, Louisiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania | $2,100,000,000 (2011) | 162 tornadoes |
| 43 | 2012 | Tornado outbreak of March 2–3, 2012 | Tornado outbreak | Southern United States, Ohio Valley | $3,500,000,000 (2019) | 70 tornadoes, with one of the deadliest in Henryville, Indiana. 41 tornadic deaths, with another 2 from related weather. |
| 43 | 2014 | 2014 Oso mudslide | Mudflow | Oso, Washington | | |
| 42 | 1846 | 1846 Havana hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Florida | | 40 in Key West, Florida, one in Savannah, Georgia, and one in South Carolina |
| 42 | 1929 | 1929 Rye Cove tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Virginia, Central and Eastern United States | Unknown damage | Including the thirteenth deadliest tornado strike at a school |
| 42 | 1943 | USS R-12 (SS-89) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Florida | | |
| 42 | 1952 | February 1952 nor'easter | Winter storm | New England | | Fatalities estimated |
| 42 | 1959 | National Airlines Flight 967 | Accident – aircraft | Gulf of Mexico | | Disappeared; suspected bombing |
| 42 | 1966 | Braniff Flight 250 | Accident – aircraft | Richardson County, Nebraska | | |
| 42 | 1973 | 1973 Staten Island gas explosion | Accident – explosion | Staten Island, New York | | |
| 42 | 1977 | Maury County jail fire | Fire (building) | Maury County, Tennessee | | |
| 42 | 1998 | 1998 Kissimmee tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Central Florida | | Including the Intercession City–Port St. John tornado, which killed 25 people |
| 42 | 2022 | July–August 2022 United States floods | Flood | Greater St. Louis, Central Appalachia, Las Vegas Valley | | 38 direct and two indirect in Kentucky, two direct in Missouri |
| 42 | 2025 | Tornado outbreak of March 13–16, 2025 | Tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States, Southern United States | | Including several non-tornadic deaths |
| 41–43 | 1916 | USS Tennessee (ACR-10) § Loss | Accident - rogue wave | Santo Domingo harbor, Dominican Republic | |
| 41 | 1859 | South Bend train wreck | Bridge washout | South Bend, Indiana | | |
| 41 | 1909 | 1909 Velasco hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Texas | | |
| 41 | 1914 | SS Monroe (1902) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Virginia Capes | | |
| 41 | 1924 | Milford Mine | Accident – iron mine | Wolford Township, Crow Wing County, Minnesota | | |
| 41 | 1950 | Genesis Health System § St. Elizabeth's Fire | Fire (building) | Davenport, Iowa | | |
| 41 | 1968 | Richmond, Indiana explosion | Natural gas explosion | Richmond, Indiana | | |
| 41 | 1998 | Tornado outbreak of April 6–9, 1998 | Tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States, Eastern United States | | Including the Birmingham Metro tornado, which killed 32 people |
| 41 | 2001 | Tropical Storm Allison | Tropical cyclone | Texas, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania | $8,500,000,000 | |
| 41 | 2020 | Hurricane Laura | Tropical cyclone | Louisiana, Texas, Florida | | |

## 26 to 40 deaths

| Fatalities | Year | Article | Type | Location | Damage (US$) | Comments |
| 40 | 1901 | SS Islander | Accident – shipwreck | Lynn Canal, Alaska | | |
| 40–54 | 1906 | Dix (steamboat) | Accident – shipwreck | Alki Point, Seattle, Washington | | |
| 40 | 1927 | USS S-4 (SS-109) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Cape Cod, Massachusetts | | |
| 40 | 1932 | 1932 Freeport hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Texas | | |
| 40 | 1933 | 1933 Cuba–Brownsville hurricane | Tropical cyclone | South Texas | | |
| 40 | 1953 | April–May 1953 tornado outbreak sequence | Tornado outbreak sequence | Southeastern United States | $26,713,000 | Including 18 deaths from a tornado in Warner Robins, Georgia; also including four non-tornadic deaths |
| 40 | 1962 | Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 | Winter storm | East Coast of the United States | | |
| 40+ | 1969 | Ohio Fireworks Derecho | Derecho | Ohio | | |
| 40 | 1994 | 1994 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Southeastern United States | $140,000,000 (2005) | Including a single tornado which killed 22 people in northeastern Alabama |
| 40 | 2008 | Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill | Coal ash spill | Kingston, Tennessee | | An estimated 40 cleanup workers died due to various illnesses believed to be caused by coal ash exposure |
| 39 | 1912 | Corning train wreck | Accident – railroad | Corning, New York | | |
| 39 | 1913 | Long Beach pier auditorium disaster | Structural collapse | Long Beach, California | | |
| 39 | 1964 | United Airlines Flight 823 | Accident – aircraft | Parrottsville, Tennessee | | |
| 39 | 1968 | Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55 | Accident – aircraft | Pedro Bay, Alaska | | |
| 39 | 1970 | Hurricane Creek mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Hyden, Kentucky | | |
| 39 | 1977 | Kelly Barnes Dam | Accident – dam failure | Toccoa, Georgia | | |
| 39 | 1997 | Heaven's Gate (religious group) | Mass suicide | San Diego, California | | Cult leaders Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles convinced followers they would join Comet Hale-Bopp to take them to another planet by swallowing poison. |
| 38+ | 1815 | 1815 New England hurricane | Tropical cyclone | New England, Long Island | | |
| 38 | 1846 | John Minturn | Accident – shipwreck | Mantoloking, New Jersey | | |
| 38 | 1860 | SS Northerner | Accident – shipwreck | Centerville, Humboldt County, California | | |
| 38+ | 1886 | January 1886 blizzard | Winter storm | Eastern United States | | |
| 38 | 1887 | Forest Hills disaster | Accident – bridge collapse | Boston, Massachusetts | | |
| 38 | 1920 | Wall Street bombing | Terrorism | Manhattan, New York | | Investigators and historians believe that it was carried out by Galleanists, a group is responsible for a series of letter bombings the previous year. |
| 38 | 1956 | Tornado outbreak of April 2–3, 1956 | Tornado outbreak | Central United States | $58,000,000 | Including 17 deaths from the Saugatuck–Hudsonville–Standale, Michigan tornado |
| 38 | 1964 | Hurricane Hilda | Tropical cyclone, tornado | Louisiana | | Including 22 deaths from a tornado near Larose, Louisiana |
| 38 | 1967 | Lake Central Flight 527 | Accident – aircraft | Marseilles Township, Wyandot County, Ohio | | |
| 38 | 1969 | United Airlines Flight 266 | Accident – aircraft | Santa Monica Bay, California | | |
| 38 | 1973 | Ozark Air Lines Flight 809 | Accident – aircraft | Normandy, Missouri | | |
| 38 | 2011 | 2011 Afghanistan Boeing Chinook shootdown | Military strike – rocket-propelled grenade | Maidan Wardak Province, Afghanistan | | |
| 38 | 2014 | Tornado outbreak of April 27–30, 2014 | Tornado outbreak | Southern United States, Central United States | ≥$1,000,000,000 (2014) | 84 tornadoes, including the Mayflower–Vilonia, Arkansas tornado which killed 16. 35 tornadic deaths, with another 3 from related weather. |
| 38 | 2020 | 2020 Easter tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Southeastern United States, Mid-Atlantic | $3,000,000,000 (2020) | Including six non-tornadic deaths |
| 37 | 1883 | 1883 Rochester tornado | Tornado | Rochester, Minnesota | $700,000 (1883) | F5 tornado killed 37 and injured hundreds more. It led to the creation of the Mayo Clinic. |
| 37 | 1948 | Northwest Airlines Flight 421 | Accident – aircraft | Fountain City, Wisconsin | | |
| 37 | 1961 | Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 | Accident – aircraft | Chicago, Illinois | | |
| 37 | 1966 | Loss of MV Alva Cape | Accident – shipwreck | New York Harbor | | 33 people killed in first fire, four people killed in second fire several days later |
| 37 | 1976 | American Airlines Flight 625 | Accident – aircraft | Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands | | |
| 37 | 1994 | USAir Flight 1016 | Accident – aircraft | Charlotte, North Carolina | | |
| 36 | 1819 | USS Firebrand | Off Pass Christian, Mississippi | | Wrecked at anchor during Bay St. Louis Hurricane of 1819 |
| 36 | 1846 | USS Somers (1842) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Veracruz | | Capsized due to a squall while chasing a blockade runner during the Mexican–American War |
| 36–50 | 1887 | SS Vernon | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Michigan | | |
| 36 | 1904 | Missouri (BB-11) turret fire | Fire (ship) | Atlantic Ocean | | |
| 36 | 1924 | Babbs Switch fire | Fire (building) | Babbs Switch, Oklahoma | Financial damage not reported | Christmas tree lighted with candles accidentally caught fire and destroyed school building. 37 additional people injured. |
| 36 | 1937 | Hindenburg disaster | Accident – airship | Manchester, New Jersey | | Hydrogen-filled zeppelin exploded while trying to dock. |
| 36 | 2002 | Tornado outbreak of November 9–11, 2002 | Tornado outbreak | Eastern United States | $160,000,000 | |
| 36 | 2010 | 2010 Tennessee floods | Flood, tornado outbreak | Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi | $2,300,000,000 (2010) | Including five tornado deaths from a related tornado outbreak |
| 36 | 2016 | Ghost Ship warehouse fire | Fire (building) | Oakland, California | | |
| 35 | 1900 | Camp Creek train wreck | Accident – railroad | McDonough, Georgia | | |
| 35+ | 1907 | Naomi Mine explosion | Accident – coal mine | Fayette City, Pennsylvania | | |
| 35 | 1914 | Francis H. Leggett | Accident – shipwreck | Off Columbia Bar, Oregon | | |
| 35 | 1919 | J. A. Chanslor | Accident – shipwreck | Off Cape Blanco, Oregon | | |
| 35 | 1923 | Allen Street Bridge disaster | Accident – bridge collapse | Washington (U.S. state) | | |
| 35 | 1949 | Standard Air Lines Flight 897R | Accident – aircraft | Chatsworth, California | | |
| 35 | 1969 | Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 | Accident – aircraft | Lone Pine, California | | |
| 35 | 1980 | Sunshine Skyway Bridge | Ship – collision | St. Petersburg, Florida | | |
| 35 | 1991 | 1991 Los Angeles airport runway collision | Accident – aircraft | Los Angeles, California | | |
| 35 | 2007 | Tornado outbreak of February 28 – March 2, 2007 | Tornado outbreak, blizzard | Central United States, Southern United States | $580,000,000 | 20 deaths from tornadoes, 15 deaths from blizzard; four other deaths occurred in Canada |
| 35 | 2011 | 2011 Halloween nor'easter | Blizzard | Northeastern United States | | Additional four deaths in Canada |
| 34 | 1965 | Watts Riots | Riot | Los Angeles, California | $40,000,000 | A riot began in the neighborhood of Watts, and other neighborhoods in South Central Los Angeles after an California Highway Patrol officer pulled over Marquette Frye and Ronald Frye, two African- American men, off the suspicion of driving while intoxicated. A rumor that a pregnant woman was assaulted by a police officer started. Thirty-four people were killed, four thousand people were arrested, and it is estimated that more than one thousand were injured. |
| 34 | 1878 | 1878 Wallingford tornado | Tornado | Southern Connecticut | $5,300,000 (2007) | |
| 34 | 1893 | 1893 New York hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Eastern United States | | |
| 34+ | 1916 | 1916 Gulf Coast hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Gulf Coast of the United States | | |
| 34 | 1920 | 1920 North Dakota blizzard | Winter storm | North Dakota | | |
| 34 | 1922 | Roma (airship) | Accident – airship | Norfolk, Virginia | | |
| 34 | 1934 | Kerns Hotel fire | Fire (building) | Lansing, Michigan | | |
| 34 | 1936 | SS Iowa (1920) | Accident – shipwreck | Columbia Bar, Washington | | |
| 34 | 1943 | USS Rogday (ID-3583) | Accident – shipwreck | Off South Carolina | | |
| 34 | 1945 | Michigan train wreck | Accident – railroad | Michigan City, North Dakota | | |
| 34 | 1950 | 1950 Chicago streetcar crash | Accident – railroad | Chicago, Illinois | | |
| 34 | 1959 | Braniff Flight 542 | Accident – aircraft | Near Buffalo, Texas | | |
| 34 | 1960 | National Airlines Flight 2511 | Accident – aircraft | Near Bolivia, North Carolina | | |
| 34 | 1967 | USS Liberty incident | Military strike - aircraft, torpedo boats | Mediterranean Sea | | 34 deaths on military ship USS Liberty due to the June 8, 1967, attack by Israeli Defense Force (IDF) aircraft and torpedo boats. |
| 34 | 1967 | Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 | Accident – aircraft | Blossburg, Pennsylvania | | |
| 34 | 1980 | Florida Commuter Airlines crash | Accident – aircraft | Atlantic Ocean, near West End, Bahamas | | |
| 34 | 2015 | Hurricane Joaquin | Tropical cyclone, shipwreck | Southeastern United States, Bermuda, Cuba, The Caribbean | $200,000,000 | Including 33 deaths from the sinking of SS El Faro near the Bahamas, and one other death on land. |
| 34 | 2019 | Sinking of MV Conception | Fire (dive boat) | Santa Cruz Island, California | | |
| 33 | 1858 | Eliza Battle | Accident – shipwreck | Tombigbee River, Alabama | | Fatalities estimated |
| 33 | 1913 | Alum Chine explosion | Accident – explosion | Patapsco River, near Baltimore, Maryland | | |
| 33 | 1925 | USS S-51 (SS-162) | Accident – shipwreck | Near Block Island, Rhode Island | | |
| 33 | 1941 | USS O-9 (SS-70) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Portsmouth, New Hampshire | | |
| 33 | 1952 | National Airlines Flight 101 | Accident – aircraft | Elizabeth, New Jersey | | Last of three plane crashes in Elizabeth over three months |
| 33 | 1958 | SS Carl D. Bradley | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Michigan | | |
| 33 | 1960 | May 1960 tornado outbreak sequence | Tornado outbreak sequence | Midwestern United States, Southern United States | $32,618,000 | Including 16 deaths from a single tornado in southeastern Oklahoma |
| 33 | 1973 | Mississippi flood of 1973 | Flood | Mississippi Valley | | |
| 33 | 1978 | Tropical Storm Amelia (1978) | Tropical cyclone | Texas | | |
| 33 | 1996 | Humberto Vidal explosion | Accident – explosion | Río Piedras, Puerto Rico | | |
| 33 | 2007 | Virginia Tech shooting | mass murder – school shooting | Blacksburg, Virginia | | Armed with two semi-automatic handguns, student Seung-Hui Cho shot to death 32 people in two separate attacks on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. 23 other people were wounded, 17 by gunfire. Cho committed suicide. |
| 33 | 2023 | Tornado outbreak of March 31 – April 1, 2023 | Tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States, Southern United States, Eastern United States | | Including one indirect and six non-tornadic deaths |
| 32–37 | 1920 | Ocoee massacre | Mass racial violence | Orange County, Florida | | |
| 32–33 | 1858 | John Milton (ship) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Long Island, New York | | |
| 32+ | 1868 | Morning Star (1862 ship) | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Erie | | At least 30 deaths aboard the Morning Star, and two deaths aboard the Cortland |
| 32 | 1918 | USS Cherokee (ID-458) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Fenwick Island, Delaware | | Including two people who later died after being rescued by the British Admiral |
| 32 | 1948 | 1948 Los Gatos DC-3 crash | Accident – aircraft | Diablo Range, west of Coalinga, California | | |
| 32 | 1948 | 1948 Airborne Transport DC-3 disappearance | Accident – aircraft | Atlantic Ocean, off east coast of Florida | | Disappeared and was never recovered |
| 32 | 1950 | Rockville Centre train crash | Accident – railroad | Rockville Centre, New York | | |
| 32 | 1962 | Tornado outbreak sequence of May 14–June 1, 1962 | Tornado outbreak sequence | | | Most fatalities were due to lightning rather than tornadoes |
| 32 | 1963 | 1963 Chualar bus crash | Accident – bus, train | Chualar, California | | Deadliest road accident in U.S. history, and deadliest U.S. rail accident involving a grade crossing |
| 32 | 1968 | Northeast Airlines Flight 946 | Accident – aircraft | Etna, New Hampshire | | |
| 32 | 1969 | 1969 Hazlehurst, Mississippi tornadoes | Tornado | Hazlehurst, Mississippi | | |
| 32 | 1973 | UpStairs Lounge arson attack | mass murder – arson | New Orleans, Louisiana | | Deadliest attack on a gay bar in the U.S. until 2016; still unsolved. |
| 32 | 1994 | Tropical Storm Alberto (1994) | Tropical cyclone | Georgia | | |
| 32 | 2024 | Tornado outbreak sequence of May 19–27, 2024 | Tornado outbreak sequence | Midwestern United States, Southern United States | | Including two indirect and ten non-tornadic deaths |
| 32 | 2024 | Hurricane Milton | Tropical cyclone | Florida | | |
| 31 | 1853 | Steamboat Jenny Lind | Accident – shipwreck | San Francisco Bay, California | | |
| 31 | 1855 | Gasconade Bridge train disaster | Bridge – accident | Gasconade, Missouri | | |
| 31 | 1862 | USS Weehawken (1862) | Accident – shipwreck | Morris Island, South Carolina | | |
| 31 | 1892 | SS Western Reserve | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Superior | | |
| 31 | 1910 | USS Nina | Accident – shipwreck | Off Ocean City, Maryland | | |
| 31 | 1913 | 1913 Binghamton Factory fire | Fire (building) | Binghamton, New York | | |
| 31 | 1940 | Little Falls Gulf Curve crash of 1940 | Accident – railroad | Little Falls, New York | | An additional 51 were injured |
| 31 | 1959 | Capital Airlines Flight 75 | Accident – aircraft | Chase, Maryland | | |
| 31 | 1970 | Wichita State University football team plane crash | Accident – aircraft | Clear Creek County, Colorado | | |
| 31 | 1981 | Keansburg nursing home fire | Fire (building) | Keansburg, New Jersey | | Nursing home full of elderly and mentally disabled |
| 31 | 1983 | SS Marine Electric | Accident – shipwreck | Off Virginia | | |
| 31 | 1985 | Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105 | Accident – aircraft | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | | |
| 31 | 1998 | October 1998 Central Texas floods | Flood | Texas | | |
| 31 | 2009 | 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami | Tsunami | American Samoa and nearby islands | | 189 total deaths, with 31 in American Samoa. |
| 30 | 1845 | Great New York City Fire of 1845 | Fire | New York City, New York | | |
| 30 | 1868 | 1868 Hayward earthquake | Earthquake | Hayward, California | | |
| 30 | 1887 | Forest Hills disaster | Structural failure | Boston, Massachusetts | | |
| 30 | 1895 | Osceola Mine | Accident – copper mine | Osceola Township, Houghton County, Michigan | | |
| 30–40 | 1833 | St. Martin (steamboat) | Ship fire | Louisiana -Traveling from Bayou Sarah; burned about 2 miles (3.2 km) above Donaldsville | | |
| 30–38 | 1909 | SS Marquette & Bessemer No. 2 | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Erie | | |
| 30 | 1923 | Glenrock train wreck | Accident – railroad | Meadow Acres, Wyoming | | |
| 30 | 1948 | Northwest Airlines Flight 4422 | Accident – aircraft | Mount Sanford, Alaska Territory | | |
| 30 | 1952 | American Airlines Flight 6780 | Accident – aircraft | Elizabeth, New Jersey | | Second of three plane crashes in Elizabeth over three months |
| 30 | 1955 | American Airlines Flight 476 | Accident – aircraft | Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri | | |
| 30 | 1956 | Redondo Junction train wreck | Accident – railroad | Los Angeles, California | | |
| 30 | 1965 | United Airlines Flight 389 | Accident – aircraft | Lake Michigan, near Lake Forest, Illinois | | |
| 30 | 1982 | Tornado outbreak of April 2–3, 1982 | Tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States, Southern United States | $390,500,000 | |
| 30 | 1987 | 1987 Saragosa tornado | Tornado | Saragosa, Texas | $2,500,000 | |
| 30 | 1989 | November 1989 tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Southern United States, Eastern United States | $160,000,000 (2005) | 21 deaths from the Huntsville, Alabama tornado; nine others from an event in Newburgh, New York variously described as either a tornado or a downburst |
| 30 | 1997 | 1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Central Texas | $126,600,000 | All 27 tornadic deaths were from a single tornado in Jarrell; three other non-tornadic fatalities occurred |
| 30 | 2004 | Hurricane Charley | Tropical cyclone | Florida, Rhode Island | | |
| 30 | 2005 | Hurricane Wilma | Tropical cyclone | Florida | | |
| 30 | 2013 | Tornado outbreak of May 18–21, 2013 | Tornado outbreak | Moore, Oklahoma | | Including the Moore, Oklahoma tornado which killed 24; also including four non-tornadic and indirect deaths |
| 29 | 1871 | Great Revere Train Wreck of 1871 | Accident – railroad | Revere, Massachusetts | | |
| 29 | 1910 | SS Pere Marquette 18 | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Michigan | | Including two crew members of sister ship Pere Marquette 17 |
| 29–42 | 1910 | Baudette fire of 1910 | Wildfire | Beltrami County, Minnesota | | |
| 29 | 1920 | SS Superior City | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Superior | | Collided with SS Willis L. King |
| 29 | 1933 | 1933 Griffith Park fire | Wildfire | Griffith Park, California | | |
| 29 | 1943 | Lackawanna Limited wreck | Accident – railroad | Wayland, New York | | Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad passenger train sideswiped a freight train |
| 29 | 1954 | Hurricane Edna | Tropical cyclone | North Carolina, New England | | |
| 29 | 1964 | Bonanza Air Lines Flight 114 | Accident – aircraft | Near Sloan, Nevada | | |
| 29 | 1970 | Pioneer Hotel (Tucson, Arizona) | Fire (building) | Tucson, Arizona | | |
| 29 | 1971 | Thiokol-Woodbine explosion | Accident – explosion | Woodbine, Georgia | | |
| 29 | 1973 | MV Norse Variant | Accident – shipwreck | Off New Jersey | | |
| 29 | 1975 | Wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Superior | | Deadliest disaster on the Great Lakes. Inspired hit song by Gordon Lightfoot |
| 29 | 1976 | Yuba City bus disaster | Accident – school bus | Martinez, California | | |
| 29 | 1977 | Air Indiana Flight 216 | Accident – aircraft | Evansville, Indiana | | The University of Evansville basketball team was traveling to Middle Tennessee State University when the plane crashed 90 seconds after takeoff from Dress Regional Airport. |
| 29 | 1990 | 1990 Plainfield tornado | Tornado | Plainfield, Illinois Crest Hill, Illinois | $160,000,000 | |
| 29 | 1997 | Comair Flight 3272 | Accident – aircraft | Raisinville Township, Michigan | | |
| 29 | 2006 | Tornado outbreak of April 2, 2006 | Tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States, Mississippi River Valley | $1,100,000,000 | Including a single tornado in western Tennessee which killed 16; also including two non-tornadic deaths |
| 29 | 2007 | February 2007 North American blizzard | Blizzard | Midwestern United States, Eastern United States, Gulf Coast of the United States | $50,000,000 | Including one death due to a tornado in New Orleans; at least seven other deaths also occurred in Canada |
| 29 | 2010 | Upper Big Branch Mine disaster | Accident – coal mine | Montcoal, West Virginia | | |
| 29 | 2025 | January 2025 Southern California wildfires | Wildfire | Southern California | | Including 17 deaths from the Eaton Fire |
| 28 | 1913 | Arcadia Hotel fire | Fire (building) | Boston | | |
| 28 | 1927 | Pittsburgh gasometer explosion | Accident – explosion | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | | |
| 28 | 1949 | American Airlines Flight 157 | Accident – aircraft | Dallas, Texas | | |
| 28 | 1951 | Great Flood of 1951 | Flood | Kansas, Missouri | $7,000,000,000 (2005) | |
| 28 | 1953 | American Airlines Flight 723 | Accident – aircraft | Colonie, New York | | |
| 28 | 1958 | Tornado outbreak of June 3–4, 1958 | Tornado outbreak | Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Wisconsin | $83,275,000 | Including 21 deaths from a tornado that struck Colfax, Wisconsin |
| 28+ | 1959 | 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake | Earthquake | Montana | | |
| 28 | 1961 | Texas Tower 4 | Structural collapse | Off the coast of Long Island, New York | | USAF radar station which sunk due to the January 1961 nor'easter |
| 28 | 1968 | North Central Airlines Flight 458 | Accident – aircraft | Chicago, Illinois | | |
| 28 | 1969 | USS Enterprise fire | Accident – fire, explosion | Pacific Ocean, off Pearl Harbor, Hawaii | | |
| 28 | 1971 | Allegheny Airlines Flight 485 | Accident – aircraft | New Haven, Connecticut | | |
| 28 | 1977 | Blizzard of 1977 | Winter storm | New York | | |
| 28 | 1987 | L'Ambiance Plaza collapse | Structural collapse | Bridgeport, Connecticut | | |
| 28 | 1987 | Continental Airlines Flight 1713 | Accident – aircraft | Denver, Colorado | | |
| 28 | 1998 | January 1998 North American ice storm | Winter storm, flood | Eastern United States | | Additional 28 deaths in Canada |
| 28 | 2008 | Tornado outbreak sequence of May 7–15, 2008 | Tornado outbreak sequence | Southern Plains, Southeastern United States, Mid-Atlantic | $250,324,000 | Including the Picher, Oklahoma/Neosho, Missouri tornado which killed 21 people; also including three non-tornadic deaths |
| 28 | 2012 | Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting | mass murder – school shooting | Sandy Hook, Connecticut | | Adam Lanza shot and killed his mother, then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he fatally shot 20 students and 6 educators before committing suicide. |
| 27 | 1850 | South America (steamboat) | Boat fire | Near Morgan's Bend on the Mississippi River | | Death toll included 13 U.S. Army soldiers, recruits assigned to the 3rd Infantry in the Southwest |
| 27 | 1872 | 1872 Owens Valley earthquake | Earthquake | Owens Valley, California | | |
| 27 | 1947 | West Frankfort, Illinois | Accident – coal mine | West Frankfort, Illinois | | |
| 27 | 1958 | Prestonsburg, Kentucky bus disaster | Accident – school bus | Prestonsburg, Kentucky | | |
| 27 | 1962 | Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 301 | Accident – aircraft | Honolulu, Hawaii | | |
| 27 | 1984 | Wilberg Mine | Accident – coal mine | Emery County, Utah | | |
| 27 | 1988 | Carrollton bus collision | Accident – school bus | Carrollton, Kentucky | | |
| 27 | 1992 | USAir Flight 405 | Accident – aircraft | Flushing Bay, near Queens, New York | | |
| 27 | 1996 | Hurricane Fran | Tropical cyclone | The Carolinas, the Virginias, Pennsylvania | | |
| 27 | 1997 | March 1997 tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee | $115,000,000 | Including a single tornado which killed 15 people near Little Rock, Arkansas |
| 27 | 2003 | North American blizzard of 2003 | Winter storm | Rocky Mountains, Central United States, Eastern United States | | |
| 27 | 2013 | Tornado outbreak of May 26–31, 2013 | Tornado outbreak, flood | Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas | | 9 tornadic deaths, 18 from flooding and other causes |
| 27 | 2017 | Sutherland Springs church shooting | Mass shooting | Sutherland Springs, Texas | | 26 murdered, gunman committed suicide after being mortally wounded by an armed civilian |
| 26 | 1863 | SS Ada Hancock | Accident – shipwreck | San Pedro Bay, California | | |
| 26 | 1911 | Canonsburg Opera House disaster | Stampede | Canonsburg, Pennsylvania | | |
| 26 | 1907 | Canaan disaster | Accident - train collision | New Hampshire | | |
| 26 | 1913 | James T. Staples | Accident – explosion, shipwreck | Tombigbee River, near Coffeeville, Alabama | | |
| 26 | 1924 | SS Clifton | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Huron | | |
| 26 | 1926 | SS Papoose | Accident – shipwreck | Mississippi River | | |
| 26 | 1939 | USS Sailfish (SS-192) | Accident – shipwreck | Off New Hampshire | | |
| 26 | 1951 | Continental Charters Flight 44-2 | Accident – aircraft | Near Napoli, New York | | |
| 26 | 1959 | Piedmont Airlines Flight 349 | Accident – aircraft | Albemarle County, Virginia | | |
| 26 | 1962 | Hurricane Daisy (1962) | Tropical cyclone | New England | | |
| 26 | 1967 | TWA Flight 553 | Accident – aircraft | Concord Township, Champaign County, Ohio | | |
| 26 | 1970 | Tornado outbreak sequence of April 17–19, 1970 | Tornado outbreak sequence | Midwestern United States, Southern United States | | Including a tornado which killed 16 people in the Texas Panhandle |
| 26 | 1970 | Lubbock tornado | Tornado | Lubbock, Texas | $1,411,900,000 (2008) | F5 tornado killed 26 and wounded approximately 500 |
| 26 | 1976 | Scotia Mine | Accident – coal mine | Oven Fork, Kentucky | | |
| 26 | 1980 | Stouffer's Inn fire | Fire (building) | Harrison, New York | | |
| 26 | 1992 | Tornado outbreak of November 1992 | Tornado outbreak | Southeastern United States, Ohio Valley | $300,000,000 | |
| 26 | 2008 | 2008 Chatsworth train collision | Accident – railroad | Chatsworth, California | | |
| 26 | 2020 | Tornado outbreak of March 2–3, 2020 | Tornado outbreak | Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri | $1,606,000,000 (2020) | Including the Putnam County, Tennessee tornado which killed 19; also including one indirect fatality |

## 15 to 25 deaths

| Fatalities | Year | Article | Type | Location | Damage (US$) | Comments |
| 25–40 | 1898 | Hassler (vessel) | Accident – shipwreck | North of Eldred Rock, Alaska | | |
| 25 | 1913 | SS Henry B. Smith | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Superior | | The SS Henry B. Smith was taking iron ore from one side of Lake Superior to the other. The weather became below freezing with powerful storms which caused massive waves, which resulted in her sinking, killing all 25 crew members on the ship. |
| 25 | 1916 | SS James B. Colgate | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Erie | | |
| 25 | 1926 | 1926 Nassau hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Puerto Rico | | |
| 25 | 1926 | 1926 Louisiana hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Louisiana | | |
| 25 | 1929 | SS Andaste | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Michigan | | |
| 25 | 1936 | Johnstown flood of 1936 | Flood | Johnstown, Pennsylvania area | | |
| 25 | 1940 | Lovettsville air disaster | Accident – aircraft | Lovettsville, Virginia | | |
| 25 | 1946 | Mount Tom B-17 crash | Accident – aircraft | Mount Tom, Massachusetts | | |
| 25 | 1956 | 1956 McDonald Chapel tornado | Tornado | Jefferson County, Alabama | | |
| 25 | 1958 | Northeast Airlines Flight 258 | Accident – aircraft | Nantucket Memorial Airport, Massachusetts | | |
| 25 | 1959 | Allegheny Airlines Flight 371 | Accident – aircraft | South Williamsport, Pennsylvania | | |
| 25 | 1962 | Eastern Air Lines Flight 512 | Accident – aircraft | New York City, New York | | |
| 25 | 1967 | Dale's Penthouse fire | Fire (building) | Montgomery, Alabama | | |
| 25 | 1982 | Dorothy Mae Apartments fire | mass murder – arson | Los Angeles, California | | |
| 25 | 1986 | Grand Canyon Airlines Flight 6 | Accident – aircraft | Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona | | |
| 25 | 1991 | Hamlet chicken processing plant fire | Fire (building) | Hamlet, North Carolina | | Workers trapped behind locked doors |
| 25 | 1991 | 1991 Oakland firestorm | Wildfire (wildland-urban interface) | Oakland, California, and vicinity | $1,500,000,000 | Burned 2,900 structures and 1,500 acres in Oakland Hills |
| 25 | 2005 | Evansville Tornado of November 2005 | Tornado | Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio | $92,000,000 | 7 tornadoes |
| 25 | 2023 | Tornado outbreak of March 24–27, 2023 | Tornado outbreak | Mississippi, Alabama | | Including 17 deaths in the Rolling Fork–Silver City tornado; also including two non-tornadic deaths in Missouri |
| 24–25 | 1916 | Big Barren Creek flood | Accident – dam failure | Claiborne County, Tennessee | | |
| 24 | 1806 | 1806 Great Coastal hurricane | Tropical cyclone, shipwreck | East Coast of the United States | | Including 21 deaths in the wreck of the Rose-in-Bloom off Barnegat Inlet, New Jersey, and three deaths in or offshore from North Carolina |
| 24+ | 1854 | Gazelle (1854 sidewheeler) | Accident – explosion | Canemah, Oregon | | |
| 24 | 1881 | 1881 Minnesota tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Southern Minnesota | | Including 20 deaths from a single tornado |
| 24–25 | 1901 | SS Hudson (1887) | Accident – shipwreck | Off Eagle Harbor, Michigan | | |
| 24 | 1905 | Red Ash Mine disasters | Accident – coal mine | Fire Creek, West Virginia | | Two explosions over two days killed a total of 24 people |
| 24 | 1908 | SS D.M. Clemson | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Superior | | |
| 24 | 1924 | Hope Development School fire | Fire (building) | Playa Del Rey, California | | |
| 24 | 1939 | 1939 City of San Francisco derailment | Accident – railroad | Harney, Nevada | | |
| 24 | 1944 | American Airlines Flight 2 | Accident – aircraft | Mississippi River | | |
| 24 | 1958 | Monarch Underwear Company fire | Fire (building) | New York City, New York | | |
| 24 | 1974 | Gulliver's nightclub fire | mass murder – arson | Port Chester, New York | | |
| 24 | 1980 | Hurricane Allen | Tropical cyclone | Texas, Louisiana | | 7 deaths in Texas, 17 offshore deaths in Louisiana |
| 24 | 1991 | Luby's shooting | mass murder | Killeen, Texas | | 23 murdered, gunman committed suicide |
| 24 | 1994 | Green Ramp disaster | Accident – aircraft | Fayetteville, North Carolina | | Deadliest aircraft accident in the U.S. involving victims on the ground |
| 24 | 1995 | 1995 Alaska Boeing E-3 Sentry accident | Accident – aircraft | Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska | | |
| 24 | 2002 | North Carolina ice storm of 2002 | Winter storm | North Carolina | | |
| 24 | 2015 | October 2015 North American storm complex | Extratropical cyclone | Eastern United States | | Additional death in New Brunswick |
| 23 | 1874 | Granite Mill fire | Fire (building) | Fall River, Massachusetts | | |
| 23 | 1891 | Railway accident on the Bostian Bridge | Accident – railroad | Statesville, North Carolina | | |
| 23 | 1900 | Thanksgiving Day Disaster | Structural collapse | San Francisco, California | | Deadliest sporting event accident in US history |
| 23 | 1919 | Onawa train wreck | Accident – railroad | Onawa, Maine | | |
| 23 | 1923 | Honda Point disaster | Accident – shipwreck | Near Lompoc, California | | 20 deaths aboard USS Young, three deaths aboard USS Delphy |
| 23 | 1925 | M.E. Norman | Accident – shipwreck | Mississippi River | | |
| 23–25 | 1933 | 1933 Outer Banks hurricane | Tropical cyclone | North Carolina, Virginia | | Two people went missing in Maine |
| 23 | 1950 | USS Benevolence | Accident – shipwreck | Off San Francisco, California | | |
| 23 | 1959 | Meldrim, Georgia, trestle disaster | Explosion – fire | Meldrim, Georgia | | |
| 23 | 1961 | Tornado outbreak sequence of May 3–9, 1961 | Tornado outbreak sequence | Great Plains, Mississippi Valley, Midwest, Northeastern, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeastern United States | $42,205,000 | Including 16 deaths from a tornado in Le Flore County, Oklahoma |
| 23 | 1962 | New York Telephone Company building explosion | Accident – explosion | New York City, New York | | |
| 23 | 1965 | USAF KC-135 Wichita crash | Accident – aircraft | Wichita, Kansas | | |
| 23 | 1968 | Los Angeles Airways Flight 841 | Accident – aircraft | Paramount, California | | |
| 23 | 1970 | ALM Flight 980 | Accident – aircraft | Caribbean Sea, off Saint Croix | | |
| 23 | 1970 | Hurricane Celia | Tropical cyclone | Texas, Florida | | |
| 23 | 1970 | Tropical Storm Norma (1970) | Tropical cyclone, flood | Arizona | | |
| 23 | 1976 | Wincrest Nursing Home fire | Arson | Chicago, Illinois | | |
| 23 | 1977 | Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 | Blizzard | New York, Ontario | $56,250,000 (1977) | The brunt of the blizzard was centered around Buffalo. |
| 23 | 1980 | USCGC Blackthorn | Accident – shipwreck | Tampa Bay, Florida | | |
| 23 | 1983 | Air Canada Flight 797 | Accident – aircraft | Cincinnati, Ohio | | |
| 23 | 1984 | San Ysidro McDonald's massacre | Mass shooting, hostage taking | San Ysidro, California | | James Huberty entered a McDonald's armed with multiple Firearms, and shot dead 21 people, including a pregnant woman, before being killed by police. |
| 23 | 1989 | Phillips disaster | Accident – explosion | Pasadena, Texas | $1,415,000,000 (1990) | 314 people injured |
| 23 | 1991 | Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311 | Accident – aircraft | Brunswick, Georgia | | |
| 23+ | 2016 | 2016 West Virginia flood | Flood | West Virginia and Virginia | | |
| 23 | 2019 | Tornado outbreak of March 3, 2019 | Tornado | Alabama and Georgia | | All 23 fatalities due to a single tornado; 3 of the deaths were children |
| 23 | 2019 | 2019 El Paso shooting | Mass shooting | El Paso, Texas | | |
| 23 | 2021 | February 15–20, 2021 North American winter storm | Winter storm | Contiguous United States | | Additional six deaths in Mexico |
| 23 | 2022 | Hurricane Fiona | Tropical cyclone | Puerto Rico | | |
| 23–25 | 2020 | August 2020 California lightning wildfires | Wildfire | California | | Including 16 deaths from the North Complex Fire |
| 22+ | 1821 | 1821 Norfolk and Long Island hurricane | Tropical cyclone | East Coast of the United States | | |
| 22+ | 1861 | Kentucky (steamboat) | Boiler explosion | Mississippi River near Helena, Arkansas | | |
| 22 | 1865 | 1865 Viroqua tornado | Tornado | Viroqua, Wisconsin | | |
| 22 | 1867 | Kingstree jail fire | Fire (building) | Kingstree, South Carolina | | |
| 22 | 1893 | Ford's Theatre | Structural collapse | Washington, D.C. | | |
| 22 | 1895 | SS Chicora | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Michigan | | |
| 22 | 1907 | SS Cyprus | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Superior | | |
| 22 | 1903 | United States Cartridge Company explosion | Accident – explosion | Lowell, Massachusetts | | |
| 22 | 1929 | Study Club fire | Fire (building) | Detroit, Michigan | | |
| 22 | 1942 | TWA Flight 3 | Accident – aircraft | Potosi Mountain, southwest of Las Vegas, Nevada | | Among those killed were actress Carole Lombard and her mother, who were returning to Los Angeles after a war bond drive in their home state of Indiana. |
| 22 | 1953 | Mid–March 1953 tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Great Plains, Mississippi Valley, Southeastern United States | $6,835,000 | Including 17 deaths from a tornado in northern Texas |
| 22 | 1956 | TWA Flight 400 | Accident – aircraft | Moon Township, Pennsylvania | | |
| 22 | 1959 | St. Louis tornado outbreak of February 1959 | Tornado outbreak | Great Plains, Midwestern United States, Southeastern United States | $53,713,000 | 21 deaths from a single tornado in St. Louis, Missouri, and one death from flooding |
| 22 | 1959 | Hurricane Gracie | Tropical cyclone, tornado outbreak | Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia | | Including 12 deaths from a tornado outbreak in Virginia |
| 22 | 1960 | Cal Poly football team plane crash | Accident – aircraft | Toledo, Ohio | | |
| 22 | 1963 | Hotel Roosevelt fire | Fire (building) | Jacksonville, Florida | | |
| 22 | 1972 | 1972 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accident | Accident – aircraft | Sacramento, California | | |
| 22 | 1974 | Tornado outbreak of June 8, 1974 | Tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States, Southern United States | | |
| 22 | 1979 | Hurricane David | Tropical cyclone | Puerto Rico, East Coast of the United States | | |
| 22 | 1980 | | Accident – tour bus | Jasper, Arkansas | | |
| 22 | 1991 | 1991 Halloween blizzard | Winter storm | Central United States | | |
| 22 | 2012 | June 2012 North American derecho | Derecho | Midwestern United States, Mid-Atlantic United States | | |
| 22 | 2014 | February 2014 nor'easter | Winter storm | Eastern United States | | |
| 22 | 2015 | Hurricane Linda (2015) | Tropical cyclone | Utah, California | | |
| 22 | 2017 | Tornado outbreak of January 21–23, 2017 | Tornado outbreak | Southeastern United States, Northeastern United States | $1,300,000,000 (2017) | Including two non-tornadic deaths |
| 22 | 2018 | January 2018 North American blizzard | Blizzard | Eastern United States | | |
| 22 | 2022 | Robb Elementary School shooting | Mass shooting – school shooting | Uvalde, Texas | | Including the perpetrator |
| 22 | 2023 | 2022–2023 California floods | Flood, winter storm | California | | |
| 21+ | 1889 | Alaskan (sidewheeler) | Accident – shipwreck | Oregon | | |
| 21 | 1846 | 1846 Grenada, Mississippi tornado | Tornado | Yalobusha County, Mississippi | | |
| 21 | 1887 | Old Southern Hotel fire | Fire (building) | St. Louis, Missouri | | |
| 21 | 1903 | 1903 East Paris train wreck | Accident – railroad | Kentwood, Michigan | | |
| 21 | 1905 | 20th Century Limited derailment | Accident – railroad | Mentor, Ohio | | |
| 21 | 1910 | Los Angeles Times bombing | Bombing | Los Angeles, California | | |
| 21 | 1910 | Chicago Union Stock Yards fire | Fire, structural failure | Chicago, Illinois | | |
| 21 | 1915 | USS F-4 | Accident – shipwreck | Off Honolulu, Hawaii | | |
| 21 | 1915 | St. Johns School fire | Fire (building) | Peabody, Massachusetts | | Schoolgirls trapped behind exit door; resulted in first city law requiring that exit doors open outward |
| 21 | 1919 | Great Molasses Flood | Accident – explosion | Boston, Massachusetts | $6,600,000,000 (2005) | Damages are out-of-court settlements only; repairs took 133 man-months |
| 21 | 1938 | 1938 Rodessa, Louisiana tornado | Tornado | Rodessa, Louisiana | | |
| 21 | 1953 | 1953 New York Central Railroad accident | Accident – railroad | Conneaut, Ohio | | |
| 21 | 1957 | Early-April 1957 tornado outbreak sequence | Tornado outbreak sequence | Central United States, Eastern United States | $9,500,000 | |
| 21 | 1959 | Arkansas Negro Boys' Industrial School | Fire (building) | Wrightsville, Arkansas | | |
| 21 | 1968 | Los Angeles Airways Flight 417 | Accident – aircraft | Compton, California | | |
| 21 | 1983 | Hurricane Alicia | Tropical cyclone | Texas | | |
| 21 | 1986 | Walker River bus crash | Accident – tour bus | Walker, California | | |
| 21 | 1987 | February 1987 nor'easter | Winter storm, shipwrecks | Mid-Atlantic United States | | 18 deaths on MV Balsa 24, and 3 deaths on the Delores Marie |
| 21 | 1989 | Alton, Texas bus crash | Motor vehicle accident | Alton, Texas | | |
| 21 | 1991 | Andover tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Great Plains | $250,000,000 | Including one tornado which killed 17 people near Andover, Kansas |
| 21 | 2003 | Air Midwest Flight 5481 | Accident – aircraft | Charlotte, North Carolina | | |
| 21 | 2003 | E2 nightclub stampede | Stampede | Chicago, Illinois | | |
| 21 | 2007 | 2007 Groundhog Day tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Central Florida | $218,000,000 | |
| 21 | 2007 | Tropical Storm Erin (2007) | Tropical cyclone | Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri | | |
| 21 | 2008 | Tropical Storm Fay (2008) | Tropical cyclone | Puerto Rico, Southeastern United States | | |
| 21 | 2009 | 2009 North American Christmas blizzard | Winter storm | Midwest, Great Plains, Eastern United States | | |
| 21 | 2014 | Early 2014 North American cold wave | Cold wave | Central United States, Eastern United States | | |
| 21–23 | 2018 | 2018 Southern California mudflows | Debris flow | Southern California | | 163 injured. 65 residences destroyed, 462 residences damaged, 8 commercial buildings destroyed, 20 commercial buildings damaged |
| 20 | 1860 | USCS Robert J. Walker (1844) | Accident – shipwreck | Off New Jersey | | |
| 20 | 1872 | Great Boston fire of 1872 | Fire (urban conflagration) | Boston, Massachusetts | $73,500,000 (1872) | |
| 20 | 1874 | Chicago Fire of 1874 | Fire (urban conflagration) | Chicago, Illinois | | |
| 20+ | 1881 | Tornado outbreak of June 1881 | Tornado outbreak | West North Central States | | |
| 20 | 1882 | SS Escambia | Accident – shipwreck | San Francisco, California | | |
| 20 | 1890 | 1890 Quincy train wreck | Accident – railroad | Quincy, Massachusetts | | |
| 20-24 | 1907 | Standard Steel Car Company mill explosion | Accident - Explosion | Butler, Pennsylvania | $100,000 (1907) | |
| 20 | 1907 | Woodlawn derailment | Accident – railroad | Woodlawn, The Bronx, New York City | | The day after the New York Central Railroad inaugurated electrical train service in New York City and suburban Westchester County, an electric engine (which had a higher center of mass than the old steam engines) jumped the tracks on a curve leading into Woodlawn station. Wreckage was strewn over a mile (1.6 km) with 20 dead and 150 injured. |
| 20 | 1916 | SS S.R. Kirby | Accident – shipwreck | Off Eagle Harbor, Michigan | | |
| 20 | 1916 | 1916 Texas hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Texas | | |
| 20 | 1924 | 1924 Nixon Nitration Works disaster | Accident – explosion | Nixon, New Jersey | | |
| 20 | 1928 | Preble Box Toe Company explosion | Accident – explosion | Lynn, Massachusetts | | |
| 20 | 1943 | American Airlines Flight 63 (Flagship Ohio) | Accident – aircraft | Allen County, Kentucky | | |
| 20 | 1948 | 1948 Donora smog | Smog | Donora, Pennsylvania | | U.S. Steel's Donora Zinc Works and the American Steel & Wire plant's emissions were believed to be the cause of the intense air pollution over this small mill town. |
| 20 | 1957 | Northeast Airlines Flight 823 | Accident – aircraft | Queens, New York | | |
| 20 | 1968 | Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 | Accident – aircraft | Bradford, Pennsylvania | | |
| 20+ | 1969 | December 1969 nor'easter | Winter storm | Northeastern United States | | |
| 20 | 1976 | Pathfinder Hotel explosion | Accident - explosion | Fremont, Nebraska | | |
| 20 | 1978 | Coates House Hotel | Fire (building) | Kansas City, Missouri | | |
| 20 | 1999 | Jasper, Arkansas bus crash | Accident – tour bus | New Orleans, Louisiana | | Plunged over embankment, carrying senior citizens from casino |
| 20 | 2005 | Ethan Allen boating accident | Accident – shipwreck | Lake George (New York) | | Overloaded tour boat capsized from another boat's wake. |
| 20 | 2005 | Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 | Accident – aircraft | Off Miami Beach, Florida | | |
| 20 | 2008 | Tornado outbreak sequence of June 3–11, 2008 | Tornado outbreak sequence, flood | Central United States, Eastern United States | $146,900,000 | 7 tornado deaths, 13 from other events (see also June 2008 Midwest floods) |
| 20 | 2010 | June 2010 Arkansas floods | Flood | Albert Pike Recreation Area near Langley, Arkansas | | |
| 20 | 2011 | 2011 Mississippi River floods | Flood | Mississippi River Valley | | |
| 20 | 2017 | Tornado outbreak and floods of April 28 – May 1, 2017 | Tornado outbreak, flood | High Plains, Western United States (Rocky Mountains), Ohio Valley, Upper Midwest, Southeastern United States | | 5 deaths from tornadoes, 15 from other causes |
| 20 | 2018 | Schoharie limousine crash | Motor vehicle accident | Schoharie, New York | | Stretch limo ran a stop sign on a three-way intersection, killing all 18 inside and two people in a parking lot |
| 20 | 2021 | 2021 Tennessee floods | Flood | Middle Tennessee | | |
| 19+ | 2020 | George Floyd protests | Riot | Minneapolis, Minnesota, Various cities in the United States | ~$1,500,000,000 - $2,500,000,000 | Widespread protests and riots across the United States after the murder of George Floyd. Amid clashes with law enforcement and widespread looting, many criminals were emboldened. At least 12 people were fatally shot, while two others were killed by vehicles. |
| 19 | 1863 | CSS Chattahoochee | Accident – shipwreck | Apalachicola River | | |
| 19 | 1871 | Los Angeles Chinese massacre of 1871 | Mass racial violence | Old Chinatown, Los Angeles, California | | |
| 19 | 1878 | Wollaston disaster | Accident – railroad | Quincy, Massachusetts | | |
| 19 | 1888 | SS City of Chester | Accident – shipwreck | Golden Gate, California | | |
| 19 | 1897 | Garrison train crash | Accident – railroad | Garrison, New York | | |
| 19 | 1908 | Great Chelsea fire of 1908 | Fire (urban conflagration) | Chelsea, Massachusetts | | |
| 19 | 1917 | USS F-1 | Accident – shipwreck | Off Point Loma, San Diego, California | | |
| 19 | 1926 | Picatinny Arsenal fire | Accident – lightning strike | Morris County, New Jersey | | |
| 19 | 1943 | Pan Am Flight 1104 | Accident – aircraft | Mendocino County, California | | |
| 19 | 1943 | 1943 Surprise Hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Louisiana, Texas | | |
| 19 | 1944 | Long Creek air disaster | Accident – aircraft | South Portland, Maine | | |
| 19 | 1944 | US Army C-47 crash | Accident – aircraft | Mount Deception (Alaska) | | |
| 19 | 1950 | 1950 Fairfield-Suisun Boeing B-29 crash | Accident – aircraft | Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base, California | | |
| 19 | 1953 | BCPA Flight 304 | Accident – aircraft | Near Woodside, California | | |
| 19 | 1956 | McKee refinery fire | Fire (industrial) | Near Sunray, Texas | | |
| 19 | 1957 | Tornado outbreak sequence of December 18–20, 1957 | Tornado outbreak sequence | Midwestern United States, Southern United States | | |
| 19 | 1962 | Tornado outbreak of March 30–31, 1962 | Tornado outbreak | Southeastern United States | $3,380,000 | Including 17 deaths from a single tornado in Milton, Florida and two lightning deaths |
| 19 | 1964 | Christmas flood of 1964 | Flood | Pacific Northwest | | |
| 19 | 1969 | Prinair Flight 277 | Accident – aircraft | Fajardo, Puerto Rico | | |
| 19 | 1970 | Tropical Depression Fifteen (1970) | Tropical cyclone | Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands | | |
| 19 | 1974 | 1974 Blythe, California bus crash | Accident – bus | Ripley, California | | |
| 19 | 1992 | December 1992 nor'easter | Winter storm | Northeastern United States | | |
| 19 | 1996 | Hurricane Hortense | Tropical cyclone | Puerto Rico | | |
| 19 | 2000 | 2000 Marana V-22 crash | Accident – aircraft | Near Tucson, Arizona | | |
| 19 | 2000 | 2000 East Coast Aviation Services British Aerospace Jetstream crash | Accident – aircraft | Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania | | |
| 19 | 2000 | USS Cole bombing | Terrorism | Aden, Yemen | | Including the two perpetrators |
| 19 | 2013 | Yarnell Hill Fire | Wildfire | Yarnell, Arizona | | 19 firefighters were killed when they became trapped in the fast-spreading fire. |
| 19 | 2023 | 2023 Lewiston shootings | Mass shooting | Lewiston, Maine | | Including the perpetrator |
| 18 | 1878 | Great Mill Disaster | Accident - grain dust explosion | Minneapolis, Minnesota | | |
| 18 | 1887 | | Accident - mine explosion | Savanna, Oklahoma (then Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory) | | Explosions in Savanna Coal Mining and Trading Company Mines #1 and #2 killed 6 miners and 12 rescuers. |
| 18 | 1892 | SS W.H. Gilcher | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Michigan | | |
| 18 | 1911 | Indianola train wreck | Accident – railroad | Indianola, Nebraska | | |
| 18 | 1928 | 1928 Times Square derailment | Accident – railroad | New York City, New York | | |
| 18 | 1947 | Eastern Air Lines Flight 665 | Accident – aircraft | Galax, Virginia | | |
| 18 | 1947 | Pan Am Flight 923 | Accident – aircraft | Annette Island, Alaska Territory | | |
| 18 | 1960 | 1960 Texas tropical storm | Tropical cyclone | Texas, Arkansas | | |
| 18 | 1961 | United Airlines Flight 859 | Accident – aircraft | Denver, Colorado | | |
| 18 | 1966 | Tornado outbreak sequence of June 1966 | Tornado outbreak sequence | Southern United States, Midwestern United States, Great Plains | $250,603,000 | Including 16 deaths from a single tornado in Topeka, Kansas |
| 18 | 1966 | University of Texas massacre | mass murder – school shooting | Austin, Texas | | Including the perpetrator and an unborn child |
| 18 | 1966 | West Coast Airlines Flight 956 | Accident – aircraft | Clackamas County, Oregon | | |
| 18 | 1993 | Northwest Airlink Flight 5719 | Accident – aircraft | Hibbing, Minnesota | | |
| 18 | 2000 | Tornado outbreak of February 13–14, 2000 | Tornado outbreak | Southeastern United States | | |
| 18 | 2001 | 2001 Avjet Gulfstream III crash | Accident – aircraft | Pitkin County, Colorado | | |
| 18 | 2006 | Hanukkah Eve windstorm of 2006 | Extratropical cyclone | Washington, Oregon | | |
| 18 | 2007 | 2007 Midwest flooding | Flood | Midwestern United States | | |
| 18 | 2011 | Tropical Storm Lee (2011) | Tropical cyclone | Gulf Coast of the United States, Eastern United States | | |
| 18 | 2013 | Early February 2013 North American blizzard | Blizzard | Eastern United States | | |
| 18 | 2015 | Tornado outbreak of December 23–25, 2015 | Tornado outbreak | Mississippi, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama | $1,606,000,000 (2020) | Including five non-tornadic deaths |
| 18 | 2025 | February 2025 North American storm complex | Flood | Kentucky, West Virginia, Georgia | | |
| 17–20 | 1861 | Platte Bridge Railroad Tragedy | Accident – railroad | St. Joseph, Missouri | | |
| 17 | 1898 | SS L.R. Doty | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Michigan | | |
| 17 | 1903 | Purdue Wreck | Accident – railroad | Indianapolis, Indiana | | |
| 17 | 1905 | Baker Bridge train wreck | Accident – railroad | Lincoln, Massachusetts | | |
| 17 | 1910 | Morewood Lake Ice Company explosion | Accident – explosion | Pittsfield, Massachusetts | | |
| 17 | 1919 | SS Myron | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Superior | | |
| 17–35+ | 1923 | Allen Street Bridge disaster | Accident – collapse | Cowlitz River, Washington | | Fatalities estimated |
| 17 | 1936 | American Airlines Flight 1 (1936) | Accident – aircraft | Near Goodwin, Arkansas | | |
| 17 | 1944 | USS YF-415 | Accident – shipwreck | Hingham, Massachusetts | | Including one person who died of his injuries after being rescued |
| 17 | 1947 | O'Connor Plating Works disaster | Accident – explosion | Los Angeles, California | | |
| 17 | 1950 | Hurricane Dog (1950) | Tropical cyclone | East Coast of the United States | | Including three deaths in a car accident in Bel Air, Maryland, two drowning deaths in Lexington, Virginia, and 12 deaths in New England |
| 17 | 1951 | Great Flood of 1951 | Flood | Kansas, Missouri | | |
| 17 | 1951 | Hurricane How | Tropical cyclone, shipwreck | Cape Hatteras, North Carolina | | 17 people were killed in the wreck of the Southern Isle |
| 17 | 1953 | SS Henry Steinbrenner | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Superior | | |
| 17 | 1954 | Hurricane Alice (June 1954) | Tropical cyclone | Texas | | |
| 17 | 1962 | United Airlines Flight 297 | Accident – aircraft | Near Ellicott City, Maryland | | |
| 17 | 1965 | Pipeline explosion and fire | Accidents – pipeline accidents | Natchitoches, Louisiana | | |
| 17 | 1965 | Early May 1965 tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Great Plains, Midwestern United States | $51,000,000 | |
| 17 | 1968 | USCGC White Alder (WLM-541) | Accident – shipwreck | Mississippi River, near White Castle, Louisiana | | |
| 17 | 1972 | Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 | Accident – aircraft | Albany, New York | | |
| 17 | 1979 | Downeast Flight 46 | Accident – aircraft | Rockland, Maine | | |
| 17 | 1984 | 1984 Romeoville petroleum refinery disaster | Accident – explosion | Romeoville, Illinois | | |
| 17 | 1990 | 1990 ARCO explosion | Accident – explosion | Channelview, Texas | | |
| 17 | 1991 | Interstate 5 dust storm accident | Accident – automobile | Coalinga, California | | |
| 17 | 2002 | Beltway sniper attacks | mass murder serial killings | Washington metropolitan area | | 3 injured in the Beltway sniper attacks and 7 in preliminary shootings |
| 17 | 2004 | December 21–24, 2004 North American winter storm | Winter storm | South Central United States, Ohio Valley | | Additional death in Canada |
| 17 | 2005 | Los Angeles County flood of 2005 | Flood | Los Angeles County, California | | Including 10 deaths in the La Conchita landslide |
| 17 | 2007 | October 2007 California wildfires | Wildfire | Southern California | | |
| 17 | 2008 | Early Spring 2008 Midwest floods | Flood | Central United States | | |
| 17 | 2008 | Sherman, Texas bus accident | Accident – bus | Sherman, Texas | | |
| 17 | 2018 | Stoneman Douglas High School shooting | School shooting | Parkland, Florida | | Former student Nikolas Cruz, was dropped off by an Uber car to Stoneman Douglas High School, shot and killed 14 students and 3 staff members, left the scene and was later arrested in Coral Springs. |
| 17 | 2018 | Table Rock Lake duck boat accident | Accident – shipwreck | Branson, Missouri | | |
| 17 | 2022 | 2022 Bronx apartment fire | Fire (building) | The Bronx, New York City, New York | | |
| 17 | 2024 | Hurricane Debby | Tropical cyclone | East Coast of the United States | | |
| 16 | 1804 | 1804 New England hurricane | Tropical cyclone | New England | | |
| 16 | 1833 | Lioness (steamship) | Accident – explosion, shipwreck | Red River of the South near Colfax, Louisiana | | |
| 16 | 1862 | USS Monitor | Accident – shipwreck | Off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina | | |
| 16 | 1890 | 1890 Wilkes-Barre tornado | Tornado | Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania | | |
| 16 | 1905 | SS Kaliyuga | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Huron | | |
| 16–20 | 1914 | SS Benjamin Noble | Accident – shipwreck | Near Knife River, Minnesota | | |
| 16 | 1926 | La Plata tornado of 1926 | Tornado | La Plata, Maryland | | 13 killed in La Plata Elementary School |
| 16 | 1947 | Great Fires of 1947 | Wildfires | Maine | | |
| 16 | 1955 | TWA Flight 260 | Accident – aircraft | Bernalillo County, New Mexico | | |
| 16 | 1956 | Hurricane Betsy (1956) | Tropical cyclone | Puerto Rico | | |
| 16 | 1956 | Lariat Cafe explosion | Accident – explosion | Monticello, Utah | | |
| 16 | 1967 | Hurricane Beulah | Tropical cyclone | Puerto Rico, Texas | | |
| 16 | 1970 | Laguna Fire | Wildfire | Laguna Mountains, California | | |
| 16 | 1978 | Waverly, Tennessee, tank car explosion | Accident – railroad | Waverly, Tennessee | | An additional 43 injured |
| 16 | 1978 | 1978 Whippoorwill tornado | Tornado, shipwreck | Pomona Lake, Kansas | | Tornado struck a tourist boat, causing it to capsize |
| 16 | 1987 | 1987 Maryland train collision | Accident – railroad | Chase, Maryland | | |
| 16 | 1987 | The Dover massacre | mass murder spree killer | Dover, Arkansas – Russellville, Arkansas | | |
| 16 | 1991 | Hurricane Bob | Tropical cyclone | East Coast of the United States | | |
| 16 | 2006 | 2006 Mid-Atlantic United States flood | Flood | Mid-Atlantic United States | | |
| 16 | 2012 | Late December 2012 North American storm complex | Tornado outbreak, blizzard | Alaska, Contiguous United States | $150,000,000 | |
| 16 | 2015 | 2015 Texas–Oklahoma flood and tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak, flood | Great Plains, Southern United States | | Additional 14 deaths occurred in Mexico |
| 16 | 2015 | 2015 San Bernardino attack | Terrorism | San Bernardino, California | | An additional 24 injured |
| 16 | 2016 | 2016 Lockhart hot air balloon crash | Accident – hot air balloon | Lockhart, Texas | | Deadliest ballooning disaster in U.S. history |
| 16–19 | 2017 | March 2017 North American blizzard | Blizzard | Northeastern United States, Upper Midwest, Great Plains | | |
| 16 | 2017 | 2017 United States Marine Corps KC-130 crash | Accident – aircraft | Leflore County, Mississippi | | |
| 16 | 2021 | Tornado outbreak sequence of March 24–28, 2021 | Tornado outbreak sequence | Southeastern United States | $3,200,000,000 | Including one indirect and eight non-tornadic deaths |
| 15 | 1815 | 1815 North Carolina hurricane | Tropical cyclone | North Carolina | | |
| 15 | 1881 | City of Muskegon | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Michigan | | |
| 15 | 1883 | 1883 Tehachapi train wreck | Accident – railroad | Tehachapi, California | | |
| 15 | 1885 | Sullivan Printing Company Fire | Fire (building) | Cincinnati, Ohio | | 15 people, mostly young women, were killed when they were trapped on an upper floor |
| 15 | 1892 | Mare Island Naval Yard explosion | Accident – explosion | Vallejo, California | | 15 sailors from USS Boston (1884) killed in black-powder explosion |
| 15 | 1902 | Park Avenue main line | Accident – railroad | New York City, New York | | |
| 15 | 1917 | 1917 Nueva Gerona hurricane | Tropical cyclone | Louisiana, Florida | | 10 in Louisiana, 5 in Florida |
| 15 | 1936 | MV Material Service | Accident – shipwreck | Lake Michigan | | |
| 15 | 1937 | Blackwater Fire of 1937 | Wildfire | Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming | | |
| 15 | 1948 | 1948 Columbia River flood | Flood | Vanport, Oregon | | |
| 15 | 1950 | Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 307 | Accident – aircraft | Minneapolis, Minnesota | | |
| 15 | 1953 | Rattlesnake Fire | Wildfire | Mendocino National Forest, California | | |
| 15 | 1954 | Cleveland Hill Middle School fire | Fire (building) | Cheektowaga, New York | | |
| 15 | 1955 | 1955 Cincinnati mid-air collision | Accident – aircraft | Boone County, Kentucky | | |
| 15 | 1956 | Hurricane Flossy (1956) | Tropical cyclone | Gulf Coast of the United States, East Coast of the United States | | |
| 15 | 1958 | Westover Air Force Base KC-135 crash | Accident – aircraft | Chicopee, Massachusetts | | |
| 15 | 1969 | Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 933 | Accident – aircraft | Santa Monica Bay, near Los Angeles, California | | |
| 15 | 1969 | Tornado outbreak of August 6, 1969 | Tornado outbreak | Minnesota, Nebraska | $4,270,000 | |
| 15 | 1984 | Beverly rooming house fire | Arson | Beverly, Massachusetts | | |
| 15 | 1986 | Edmond post office shooting | mass murder | Edmond, Oklahoma | | 14 victims and 1 perpetrator |
| 15 | 1994 | Flagship Airlines Flight 3379 | Accident – aircraft | Morrisville, North Carolina | | |
| 15 | 1999 | Columbine High School massacre | mass murder – school shooting | Jefferson County, Colorado | | Armed with 2 sawed-off shotguns, a TEC-9 pistol and a carbine, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered their school in Littleton and opened fire at the students and staff, killing 12 students, 1 teacher and then killing themselves. |
| 15 | 2003 | Cedar Fire | Wildfire | San Diego County, California | | Burned 273,246 acres and 2,820 structures |
| 15 | 2005 | Texas City refinery explosion | Accident – explosion | Texas City, Texas | | |
| 15 | 2005 | Hurricane Dennis | Tropical cyclone | Florida, Alabama, Mississippi | | |
| 15 | 2009 | Tornado outbreak of February 10–11, 2009 | Tornado outbreak | Central United States, Eastern United States | $18,100,000 | Including seven non-tornadic deaths |
| 15 | 2011 | World Wide Tours bus crash | Accident – tour bus | Bronx, New York | | En route to Connecticut casino, March 12 |
| 15 | 2012 | 2012 Leap Day tornado outbreak | Tornado outbreak | Great Plains, Ohio Valley | $475,000,000 | |
| 15 | 2013 | West Fertilizer Company explosion | Accident – explosion | West, Texas | | More than 160 people were injured. Several years later, investigators concluded that the fire that preceded the explosion had been deliberately set. |
| 15 | 2020 | Hurricane Isaias | Tropical cyclone | East Coast of the United States, Puerto Rico | | |
| 15 | 2023 | February 2023 North American storm complex | Winter storm, tornado outbreak | East Coast of the United States, Puerto Rico | Western, Southern and Midwestern United States | |
| 15 | 2025 | 2025 New Orleans truck attack | Vehicle-ramming attack, possible terrorism | New Orleans, Louisiana | | 14 people were killed when Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the perpetrator, rammed into a crowd of pedestrians in New Orleans on Bourbon Street. He was later shot and killed by local police. |