Donaldsonville, LA
Donaldsonville, LA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Donaldsonville at the 10th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 3,248 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Donaldsonville's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 10th percentile nationally.
Where Donaldsonville's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 84.9% of Donaldsonville's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 3.4% Direct and 11.7% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Donaldsonville against the rest of the country
Donaldsonville scores 10th nationally and 4th within Louisiana — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Donaldsonville ranks 28,395 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,104 by building count (1 is largest). Within Louisiana alone, it ranks 467 of 488 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Louisiana on its state page.
Donaldsonville and the insurance market
Donaldsonville's low wildfire rating (10th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 84.9% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Donaldsonville gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Donaldsonville's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,248 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Donaldsonville. The exposure-zones guide covers what Donaldsonville's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.