Cottondale, AL
Cottondale, AL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Cottondale lands at the 62nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 1,575 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Cottondale's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 64th percentile nationally.
Where Cottondale's buildings actually sit
Of Cottondale's 1,575 counted buildings, 62.7% carry Direct exposure and only 0.4% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
How Cottondale compares
Cottondale's 62nd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 29th ranking inside Alabama does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 33 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cottondale ranks 12,121 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,856 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alabama alone, it ranks 421 of 592 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alabama on its state page.
Cottondale and the insurance market
At the 62nd percentile nationally, Cottondale carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in Cottondale
Cottondale's 62.7% 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
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,575 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Cottondale. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Cottondale, see the exposure-zones guide.