Ben Wheeler, TX
Ben Wheeler wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Ben Wheeler at the 77th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 376 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Ben Wheeler at the 78th percentile, close to its 77th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Of Ben Wheeler's 376 counted buildings, 84.3% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
How Ben Wheeler compares
Ben Wheeler ranks lower within Texas (51st percentile statewide) than its 77th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ben Wheeler ranks 7,384 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,751 by building count (1 is largest). Within Texas alone, it ranks 874 of 1,795 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Texas on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Ben Wheeler
At the 77th percentile nationally, Ben Wheeler 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
Because Direct exposure dominates in Ben Wheeler (84.3%), 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
Every one of the two percentiles behind Ben Wheeler's 7,384-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Ben Wheeler, see the exposure-zones guide.