Banner Elk, NC
How exposed is Banner Elk to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Banner Elk lands at the 66th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 676 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Banner Elk at the 68th percentile, close to its 66th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 76% of Banner Elk's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 24% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 514 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Banner Elk compares
Banner Elk scores 66th nationally and 66th within North 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, Banner Elk ranks 10,722 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,911 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 261 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Banner Elk
Banner Elk's high rating (66th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Hardening a home in Banner Elk
Because Direct exposure dominates in Banner Elk (76%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 676 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Banner Elk. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Banner Elk, see the exposure-zones guide.