Clay Center, OH
How exposed is Clay Center to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Clay Center at the 2nd national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 223 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Clay Center at the 2nd national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Clay Center's building exposure, zone by zone
92.8% of Clay Center's 223 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 7.2% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Where Clay Center ranks
Clay Center scores 2nd nationally and 11th within Ohio — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Clay Center ranks 30,994 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,023 by building count (1 is largest). Within Ohio alone, it ranks 1,123 of 1,264 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Ohio on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Clay Center's low rating (2nd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 92.8% of Clay Center outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Clay Center's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 223 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Clay Center. The exposure-zones guide covers what Clay Center's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.