Franklin, TN
How exposed is Franklin to wildfire?
Franklin sits at the 24th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 26,349 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Franklin's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 26th percentile nationally.
Franklin's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Franklin's buildings (51.1%) 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. At 26,349 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Franklin against the rest of the country
Franklin ranks lower within Tennessee (8th percentile statewide) than its 24th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Franklin ranks 23,934 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 469 by building count (1 is largest). Within Tennessee alone, it ranks 460 of 502 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Tennessee on its state page.
Franklin and the insurance market
Franklin's moderate rating (24th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Franklin (51.1% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Franklin's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 26,349 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Franklin. The exposure-zones guide covers what Franklin's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.