Honokaa, HI
Honokaa wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Honokaa lands at the 87th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 1,201 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Honokaa's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 83rd percentile nationally.
Where Honokaa's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 68.4% of Honokaa's 1,201 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 31.6% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Honokaa against the rest of the country
Inside Hawaii, Honokaa sits at just the 30th percentile even though it scores 87th 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, Honokaa ranks 4,090 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,643 by building count (1 is largest). Within Hawaii alone, it ranks 117 of 163 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Hawaii on its state page.
Honokaa and the insurance market
At the 87th percentile nationally, Honokaa 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Honokaa's 68.4% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,201 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Honokaa. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Honokaa, see the exposure-zones guide.