Alachua, FL
Alachua wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Alachua at the 81st national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 4,579 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Alachua at the 80th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Alachua's building exposure, zone by zone
74.4% of Alachua's 4,579 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 3,405 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 25.6% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Where Alachua ranks
Alachua ranks lower within Florida (51st percentile statewide) than its 81st national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Alachua ranks 6,014 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,723 by building count (1 is largest). Within Florida alone, it ranks 473 of 955 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Florida on its state page.
Alachua and the insurance market
Alachua's very high rating (81st percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 74.4% of Alachua in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Alachua's 6,014-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Alachua, see the exposure-zones guide.