Hico, TX
How exposed is Hico to wildfire?
Hico sits at the 93rd 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 967 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Hico at the 92nd national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Hico's building exposure, zone by zone
967 buildings are counted in Hico, and 50.7% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
How Hico compares
Hico's risk sits at a similar level relative to Texas (91st percentile statewide) as it does nationally (93rd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hico ranks 2,219 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,173 by building count (1 is largest). Within Texas alone, it ranks 161 of 1,795 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Texas on its state page.
Hico and the insurance market
Hico's very high rating (93rd 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 50.7% of Hico 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 Hico's figures come from
Hico's 93rd-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 Hico's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.