Harrisburg, NC
How exposed is Harrisburg to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Harrisburg lands at the 52nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 6,956 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Harrisburg at the 55th national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Harrisburg's buildings actually sit
Most of Harrisburg's buildings (51.3%) 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 6,956 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Harrisburg ranks
Harrisburg's risk sits at a similar level relative to North Carolina (43rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (52nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Harrisburg ranks 15,260 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,488 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 442 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Harrisburg and the insurance market
At the 52nd national percentile, Harrisburg rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Harrisburg
Harrisburg's 51.3% 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 Harrisburg's figures come from
Harrisburg's 52nd-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 Harrisburg's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.