Cateechee, SC
Cateechee, SC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Cateechee sits at the 71st percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 211 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Cateechee at the 74th percentile, close to its 71st-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
80.6% of Cateechee's 211 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 170 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 19.4% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Cateechee against the rest of the country
Cateechee scores 71st nationally and 60th within South Carolina — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cateechee ranks 9,306 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,454 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Carolina alone, it ranks 189 of 474 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Cateechee
At the 71st percentile nationally, Cateechee carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
Cateechee's 80.6% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Cateechee's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Cateechee's 9,306-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Cateechee's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.