Gadsden, SC
How exposed is Gadsden to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Gadsden at the 72nd national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 950 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Gadsden's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 72nd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
99.3% of Gadsden's 950 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 943 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 0.7% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
How Gadsden compares
Gadsden's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Carolina (65th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (72nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Gadsden ranks 8,800 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,310 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Carolina alone, it ranks 166 of 474 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Carolina on its state page.
Gadsden and the insurance market
Gadsden's high rating (72nd percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Hardening a home in Gadsden
Because Direct exposure dominates in Gadsden (99.3%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Gadsden's 72nd-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 Gadsden, see the exposure-zones guide.