Hillsville, PA
How exposed is Hillsville to wildfire?
USFS scores Hillsville at the 40th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 352 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Hillsville's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 40th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
352 buildings are counted in Hillsville, and 77% 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 Hillsville compares
Within Pennsylvania, Hillsville ranks higher (62nd percentile) than it does nationally (40th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hillsville ranks 18,981 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 20,267 by building count (1 is largest). Within Pennsylvania alone, it ranks 755 of 1,991 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Pennsylvania on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Hillsville
Hillsville's moderate wildfire rating (40th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
With 77% of Hillsville 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 Hillsville's figures come from
Hillsville's 40th-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 Hillsville's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.