Homewood, AL
Homewood, AL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Homewood at the 59th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 8,278 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Homewood's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 63rd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Homewood's buildings (55.6% of 8,278) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure. At 8,278 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Homewood against the rest of the country
Homewood ranks lower within Alabama (24th percentile statewide) than its 59th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Homewood ranks 12,847 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,017 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alabama alone, it ranks 452 of 592 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alabama on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Homewood's elevated rating (59th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 55.6% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Homewood gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Homewood's figures come from
Homewood's 59th-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 Homewood's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.