Hayesville, NC
Hayesville, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Hayesville sits at the 79th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 342 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Hayesville at the 82nd national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Hayesville's buildings actually sit
Of Hayesville's 342 counted buildings, 62.9% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
How Hayesville compares
Hayesville scores 79th nationally and 84th within North Carolina — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hayesville ranks 6,595 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 20,526 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 126 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Hayesville and the insurance market
Hayesville's high rating (79th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Hayesville's 62.9% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Hayesville's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Hayesville's 6,595-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Hayesville's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.