Honalo, HI
Honalo wildfire risk explained
Honalo's 565 buildings earn a 89th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Honalo at the 86th percentile, close to its 89th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 89.9% of Honalo's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 10.1% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 508 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Where Honalo ranks
Honalo's 89th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 40th ranking inside Hawaii does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 49 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Honalo ranks 3,529 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,320 by building count (1 is largest). Within Hawaii alone, it ranks 98 of 163 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Hawaii on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 89th percentile nationally, Honalo carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 89.9% of Honalo 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 Honalo's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Honalo's 3,529-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Honalo's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.