Kingwood, WV
Kingwood wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Kingwood lands at the 41st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 1,538 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Kingwood at the 42nd percentile, close to its 41st-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Kingwood (55.4% of 1,538 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 44.6% sit in the Direct zone.
How Kingwood compares
Kingwood's 41st national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 17th ranking inside West Virginia does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 24 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Kingwood ranks 18,642 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,996 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 356 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 41st national percentile, Kingwood rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Kingwood's 55.4% 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.
Where Kingwood's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,538 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Kingwood. The exposure-zones guide covers what Kingwood's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.