Amherst, TX
Amherst wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Amherst lands at the 90th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 480 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Amherst at the 89th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Amherst's buildings actually sit
Amherst rates 65.4% Minimal exposure against just 34.4% Direct and 0.2% Indirect — of 480 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
Where Amherst ranks
Amherst scores 90th nationally and 83rd within Texas — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Amherst ranks 3,290 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,716 by building count (1 is largest). Within Texas alone, it ranks 304 of 1,795 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Texas on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 90th percentile nationally, Amherst carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in Amherst
Even with 65.4% of Amherst outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Amherst's figures come from
Amherst's 90th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Amherst's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.