Central City, KY
How exposed is Central City to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Central City lands at the 45th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 2,734 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Central City at the 46th national percentile — 2 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
Of Central City's 2,734 counted buildings, 57.1% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Central City against the rest of the country
Within Kentucky, Central City ranks higher (74th percentile) than it does nationally (45th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Central City ranks 17,392 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,874 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kentucky alone, it ranks 144 of 552 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kentucky on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 45th national percentile, Central City 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
Central City's 57.1% 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 Central City's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Central City's 17,392-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Central City's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.