Carolina, WV
Carolina, WV's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Carolina lands at the 44th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 251 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Carolina at the 45th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
251 buildings are counted in Carolina, and 54.2% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
Carolina against the rest of the country
Inside West Virginia, Carolina sits at just the 26th percentile even though it scores 44th nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Carolina ranks 17,761 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,121 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 319 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Carolina
Carolina's elevated wildfire rating (44th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 54.2% of Carolina 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.
Where Carolina's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Carolina's 17,761-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Carolina's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.