Gulf Hills, MS
Gulf Hills, MS's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Gulf Hills sits at the 92nd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 3,740 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Gulf Hills at the 94th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Gulf Hills's building exposure, zone by zone
36.2% of Gulf Hills's 3,740 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 1,354 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 28.8% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 35% are Minimal.
Where Gulf Hills ranks
Gulf Hills's risk sits at a similar level relative to Mississippi (95th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (92nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Gulf Hills ranks 2,396 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,484 by building count (1 is largest). Within Mississippi alone, it ranks 20 of 420 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Mississippi on its state page.
Gulf Hills and the insurance market
Gulf Hills's 92nd-percentile, very 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
With 36.2% of Gulf Hills in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Gulf Hills's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,740 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Gulf Hills. The exposure-zones guide covers what Gulf Hills's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.