Lake Norman of Catawba, NC
Lake Norman of Catawba, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Lake Norman of Catawba sits at the 53rd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 5,841 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Lake Norman of Catawba's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 56th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 80.5% of Lake Norman of Catawba's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 10.6% Indirect share and far above its 8.9% Minimal share — a profile where 4,702 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most. At 5,841 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Lake Norman of Catawba compares
There's little gap between Lake Norman of Catawba's 53rd national percentile and its 46th percentile inside North Carolina, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lake Norman of Catawba ranks 14,945 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,948 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 422 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Lake Norman of Catawba and the insurance market
Lake Norman of Catawba's elevated wildfire rating (53rd 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Lake Norman of Catawba (80.5%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Lake Norman of Catawba's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Lake Norman of Catawba's 14,945-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Lake Norman of Catawba's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.