Cottonwood, TX
Cottonwood, TX's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Cottonwood lands at the 79th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 146 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Cottonwood at the 80th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Cottonwood's building exposure, zone by zone
Of Cottonwood's 146 counted buildings, 100% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
How Cottonwood compares
Cottonwood ranks lower within Texas (59th percentile statewide) than its 79th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cottonwood ranks 6,568 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,048 by building count (1 is largest). Within Texas alone, it ranks 735 of 1,795 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Texas on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 79th percentile nationally, Cottonwood 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Cottonwood (100%), 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
Cottonwood's 79th-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 Cottonwood, see the exposure-zones guide.