Fairplains, NC
Fairplains, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Fairplains's 1,287 buildings earn a 44th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Fairplains at the 46th percentile, close to its 44th-percentile risk score.
Where Fairplains's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 96.7% of Fairplains's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 3.3% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 1,244 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Fairplains against the rest of the country
Fairplains's 44th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 22nd ranking inside North Carolina does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 21 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Fairplains ranks 17,750 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,150 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 598 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Fairplains's elevated wildfire rating (44th 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.
Hardening a home in Fairplains
Because Direct exposure dominates in Fairplains (96.7%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Fairplains's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Fairplains's 17,750-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Fairplains's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.