Fort Myers Beach, FL
Fort Myers Beach wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Fort Myers Beach lands at the 83rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 3,677 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 Fort Myers Beach at the 85th percentile, close to its 83rd-percentile risk score.
Where Fort Myers Beach's buildings actually sit
Most of Fort Myers Beach's buildings (58.5%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Fort Myers Beach against the rest of the country
Fort Myers Beach ranks lower within Florida (57th percentile statewide) than its 83rd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Fort Myers Beach ranks 5,414 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,553 by building count (1 is largest). Within Florida alone, it ranks 410 of 955 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Florida on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 83rd percentile nationally, Fort Myers Beach carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
Fort Myers Beach's 58.5% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Fort Myers Beach's figures come from
Fort Myers Beach's 83rd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Fort Myers Beach's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.