Helotes, TX
Helotes, TX's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Helotes lands at the 72nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 4,062 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Helotes at the 70th percentile, close to its 72nd-percentile risk score.
Helotes's building exposure, zone by zone
51.5% of Helotes's 4,062 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 2,090 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 37.1% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 11.4% are Minimal.
Where Helotes ranks
Inside Texas, Helotes sits at just the 37th percentile even though it scores 72nd nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Helotes ranks 8,836 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,179 by building count (1 is largest). Within Texas alone, it ranks 1,137 of 1,795 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Texas on its state page.
Helotes and the insurance market
Helotes'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.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Helotes (51.5%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Helotes's figures come from
Helotes's 72nd-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 Helotes's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.