Jefferson, NC
How exposed is Jefferson to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Jefferson at the 62nd national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 790 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Jefferson at the 64th national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Of Jefferson's 790 counted buildings, 76.2% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
How Jefferson compares
Jefferson scores 62nd nationally and 60th within North Carolina — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Jefferson ranks 12,072 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,733 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 310 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Jefferson and the insurance market
At the 62nd percentile nationally, Jefferson carries the 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.
Hardening a home in Jefferson
Because Direct exposure dominates in Jefferson (76.2%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Jefferson's figures come from
Jefferson's 62nd-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 Jefferson's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.