Clayton, NC
How exposed is Clayton to wildfire?
USFS scores Clayton at the 42nd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 8,735 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Clayton's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 44th percentile nationally.
Where Clayton's buildings actually sit
Most of Clayton's buildings (49.6%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone. At 8,735 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Clayton against the rest of the country
Inside North Carolina, Clayton sits at just the 20th percentile even though it scores 42nd 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, Clayton ranks 18,255 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,910 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 621 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
At the 42nd national percentile, Clayton rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Clayton
Because 49.6% of Clayton's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Clayton's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 8,735 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Clayton. The exposure-zones guide covers what Clayton's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.