Houston, DE
How exposed is Houston to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Houston at the 36th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 246 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Houston's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 35th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 60.2% of Houston's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 39.8% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 148 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Where Houston ranks
There's little gap between Houston's 36th national percentile and its 31st percentile inside Delaware, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Houston ranks 20,253 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,260 by building count (1 is largest). Within Delaware alone, it ranks 54 of 79 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Delaware on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Houston's moderate wildfire rating (36th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Houston's 60.2% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Houston's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Houston's 20,253-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Houston's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.