Carrboro, NC
Carrboro, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Carrboro lands at the 32nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 5,436 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Carrboro's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 33rd percentile nationally.
Where Carrboro's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 61.1% of Carrboro's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 38.9% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 3,319 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most. At 5,436 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Carrboro against the rest of the country
Inside North Carolina, Carrboro sits at just the 4th percentile even though it scores 32nd 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, Carrboro ranks 21,467 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,177 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 740 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
Carrboro's moderate rating (32nd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Carrboro
Because Direct exposure dominates in Carrboro (61.1%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Carrboro's figures come from
Carrboro's 32nd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Carrboro's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.