Ashland, MS
Ashland, MS's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Ashland lands at the 81st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 444 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Ashland at the 84th national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Ashland's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 74.1% of Ashland's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 25.9% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 329 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Ashland compares
Ashland's risk sits at a similar level relative to Mississippi (82nd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (81st) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ashland ranks 6,143 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,382 by building count (1 is largest). Within Mississippi alone, it ranks 77 of 420 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Mississippi on its state page.
Ashland and the insurance market
Ashland's 81st-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.
What would actually reduce this score
With 74.1% of Ashland 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 Ashland's figures come from
Ashland's 81st-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 Ashland's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.