Median Days from Declaration Request to Decision by Year
How quickly each year's Major Disaster declaration requests were processed — median days for approvals and denials (2001–2026)
Median is the midpoint value — half of declarations were processed faster, half slower. It is less
affected by outliers than the average. Transition years (2009, 2013, 2017, 2021, 2025) combine data
from both outgoing and incoming administrations, weighted by declaration count.
COVID-19 (Biological) declarations excluded. 2026 is a partial year. Data: OpenFEMA API.