Columbia, TN
Columbia, TN's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Columbia sits at the 32nd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 17,708 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Columbia's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 35th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
44.8% of Columbia's 17,708 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 7,933 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 26.5% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 28.7% are Minimal. At 17,708 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Columbia compares
There's little gap between Columbia's 32nd national percentile and its 20th percentile inside Tennessee, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Columbia ranks 21,575 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 808 by building count (1 is largest). Within Tennessee alone, it ranks 401 of 502 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Tennessee on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Columbia
Columbia's moderate rating (32nd 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
Because Direct exposure dominates in Columbia (44.8%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Columbia's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Columbia's 21,575-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Columbia's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.