Jefferson, SC
Jefferson, SC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Jefferson at the 67th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 484 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Jefferson at the 69th national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Jefferson's buildings actually sit
Of Jefferson's 484 counted buildings, 78.1% 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.
Where Jefferson ranks
Jefferson ranks lower within South Carolina (46th percentile statewide) than its 67th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Jefferson ranks 10,311 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,638 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Carolina alone, it ranks 258 of 474 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Carolina on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Jefferson's 67th-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Jefferson (78.1%), 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 67th-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.