Arrowhead Beach, NC
Arrowhead Beach wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Arrowhead Beach lands at the 45th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 562 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Arrowhead Beach at the 43rd national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Arrowhead Beach's buildings actually sit
562 buildings are counted in Arrowhead Beach, and 61.9% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 3% rated Minimal.
Where Arrowhead Beach ranks
Arrowhead Beach's 45th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 24th ranking inside North Carolina does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 21 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Arrowhead Beach ranks 17,491 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,377 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 587 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Arrowhead Beach and the insurance market
At the 45th national percentile, Arrowhead Beach rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Arrowhead Beach (61.9%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Arrowhead Beach's figures come from
Arrowhead Beach's 45th-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 Arrowhead Beach's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.