Big Wells, TX
Big Wells, TX's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Big Wells lands at the 84th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 470 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Big Wells's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 82nd percentile nationally.
Where Big Wells's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Big Wells (66% of 470 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 34% sit in the Direct zone.
How Big Wells compares
There's little gap between Big Wells's 84th national percentile and its 72nd percentile inside Texas, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Big Wells ranks 4,993 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,880 by building count (1 is largest). Within Texas alone, it ranks 507 of 1,795 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Texas on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Big Wells's very high rating (84th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Big Wells's 66% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Big Wells's 84th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Big Wells, see the exposure-zones guide.