Ethelsville, AL
Ethelsville, AL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Ethelsville lands at the 57th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 79 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Ethelsville at the 59th percentile, close to its 57th-percentile risk score.
Ethelsville's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Ethelsville: 100% of its 79 buildings, versus 0% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Ethelsville compares
Ethelsville's 57th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 18th ranking inside Alabama does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 39 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ethelsville ranks 13,413 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,906 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alabama alone, it ranks 484 of 592 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alabama on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Ethelsville's elevated rating (57th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 100% of Ethelsville 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
Ethelsville's 57th-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 Ethelsville, see the exposure-zones guide.