Cosby, TN
How exposed is Cosby to wildfire?
Cosby's 696 buildings earn a 82nd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Cosby at the 83rd national percentile — 1 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
95.7% of Cosby's 696 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 666 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 4.3% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Where Cosby ranks
Cosby scores 82nd nationally and 89th within Tennessee — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cosby ranks 5,780 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,710 by building count (1 is largest). Within Tennessee alone, it ranks 55 of 502 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Tennessee on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Cosby
Cosby's 82nd-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Cosby (95.7%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 696 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Cosby. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Cosby, see the exposure-zones guide.