Carthage, NC
Carthage, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Carthage at the 74th national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 1,595 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Carthage's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 75th percentile nationally.
Carthage's building exposure, zone by zone
77.2% of Carthage's 1,595 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 1,232 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 22.8% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
How Carthage compares
Carthage's risk sits at a similar level relative to North Carolina (75th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (74th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Carthage ranks 8,361 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,788 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 195 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Carthage
Carthage's 74th-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
With 77.2% of Carthage 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 Carthage's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,595 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Carthage. The exposure-zones guide covers what Carthage's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.