Cleveland, NC
Cleveland wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Cleveland at the 49th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 559 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Cleveland's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 52nd percentile nationally.
Where Cleveland's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 75.3% of Cleveland's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 24.7% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 421 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Where Cleveland ranks
Cleveland's risk sits at a similar level relative to North Carolina (36th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (49th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cleveland ranks 15,983 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,429 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 494 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Cleveland
Cleveland's elevated wildfire rating (49th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
Cleveland's 75.3% 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.
More on how this number was built
Cleveland's 49th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Cleveland, see the exposure-zones guide.