Dawson, GA
How exposed is Dawson to wildfire?
USFS scores Dawson at the 58th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 2,274 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Dawson's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 57th percentile nationally.
Dawson's building exposure, zone by zone
2,274 buildings are counted in Dawson, and 68.3% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 31.8% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Dawson against the rest of the country
Dawson's 58th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 16th ranking inside Georgia does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 43 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Dawson ranks 13,168 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,762 by building count (1 is largest). Within Georgia alone, it ranks 565 of 669 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Georgia on its state page.
Dawson and the insurance market
Dawson's elevated wildfire rating (58th 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
Because 68.3% of Dawson's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Dawson's figures come from
Dawson's 58th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Dawson's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.