Gray, TN
Gray, TN's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Gray's 736 buildings earn a 66th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — well above the national norm for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Gray at the 72nd national percentile — 6 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 51.9% of Gray's 736 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 48.1% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Gray ranks
Gray's risk sits at a similar level relative to Tennessee (58th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (66th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Gray ranks 10,665 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,265 by building count (1 is largest). Within Tennessee alone, it ranks 211 of 502 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Tennessee on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Gray's 66th-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
Gray's 51.9% 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 Gray's figures come from
Gray's 66th-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 Gray's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.