Arapahoe, NC
Arapahoe, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Arapahoe lands at the 83rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 415 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Arapahoe at the 78th national percentile — 4 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Arapahoe's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Arapahoe: 100% of its 415 buildings, versus 0% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Where Arapahoe ranks
Arapahoe's risk sits at a similar level relative to North Carolina (90th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (83rd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Arapahoe ranks 5,519 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,931 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 80 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Arapahoe
Arapahoe's 83rd-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 100% of Arapahoe 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.
Where Arapahoe's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Arapahoe's 5,519-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Arapahoe's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.