Elkin, NC
Elkin, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Elkin at the 39th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 2,198 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Elkin at the 41st national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Elkin's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Elkin: 65.2% of its 2,198 buildings, versus 34.8% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Elkin compares
Elkin ranks lower within North Carolina (13th percentile statewide) than its 39th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Elkin ranks 19,351 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,937 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 672 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Elkin and the insurance market
Elkin's moderate wildfire rating (39th 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
With 65.2% of Elkin in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Elkin's 19,351-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Elkin, see the exposure-zones guide.