Ashland, VA
How exposed is Ashland to wildfire?
Ashland's 3,434 buildings earn a 40th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Ashland at the 40th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Ashland's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 59.5% of Ashland's 3,434 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 40.5% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Ashland ranks
Ashland's risk sits at a similar level relative to Virginia (33rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (40th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ashland ranks 18,956 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,867 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 459 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Ashland's moderate rating (40th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Ashland's 59.5% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,434 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Ashland. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Ashland, see the exposure-zones guide.