Elkins, WV
Elkins, WV's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Elkins at the 57th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 3,879 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Elkins at the 56th percentile, close to its 57th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 87.3% of Elkins's 3,879 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 12.7% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Elkins ranks
Elkins's risk sits at a similar level relative to West Virginia (47th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (57th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Elkins ranks 13,507 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,356 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 230 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 57th national percentile, Elkins rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 87.3% of Elkins'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.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Elkins's 13,507-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Elkins, see the exposure-zones guide.