Belle Meade, TN
How exposed is Belle Meade to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Belle Meade lands at the 19th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 1,433 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Belle Meade at the 20th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Belle Meade's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Belle Meade: 97.7% of its 1,433 buildings, versus 1.3% Indirect and 1.1% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Belle Meade compares
Belle Meade scores 19th nationally and 5th within Tennessee — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Belle Meade ranks 25,671 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,467 by building count (1 is largest). Within Tennessee alone, it ranks 476 of 502 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Tennessee on its state page.
Belle Meade and the insurance market
Belle Meade's low rating (19th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Belle Meade (97.7%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Belle Meade's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,433 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Belle Meade. The exposure-zones guide covers what Belle Meade's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.