Bowdens, NC
Bowdens, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Bowdens at the 50th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 160 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Bowdens's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 50th percentile nationally.
Where Bowdens's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Bowdens: 80.6% of its 160 buildings, versus 19.4% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Bowdens compares
There's little gap between Bowdens's 50th national percentile and its 38th percentile inside North Carolina, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bowdens ranks 15,794 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,443 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 482 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 50th national percentile, Bowdens rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 80.6% of Bowdens in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Bowdens's 50th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Bowdens, see the exposure-zones guide.