Atlantic Beach, SC
How exposed is Atlantic Beach to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Atlantic Beach at the 72nd national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 172 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Atlantic Beach's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 69th percentile nationally.
Atlantic Beach's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 87.8% of Atlantic Beach's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 12.2% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
How Atlantic Beach compares
Atlantic Beach scores 72nd nationally and 64th within South Carolina — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Atlantic Beach ranks 8,926 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,964 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Carolina alone, it ranks 171 of 474 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Atlantic Beach
At the 72nd percentile nationally, Atlantic Beach carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
With 87.8% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Atlantic Beach gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Atlantic Beach's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Atlantic Beach's 8,926-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Atlantic Beach's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.