Athens, AL
How exposed is Athens to wildfire?
Athens's 12,341 buildings earn a 25th-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.)
Separately from the risk score above, Athens's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 27th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Athens's buildings (51.4% of 12,341) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure. At 12,341 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Athens compares
Athens ranks lower within Alabama (1st percentile statewide) than its 25th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Athens ranks 23,752 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,252 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alabama alone, it ranks 584 of 592 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alabama on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Athens's moderate rating (25th 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
Athens's 51.4% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where Athens's figures come from
Athens's 25th-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 Athens's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.