Lakeland, FL
Lakeland, FL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Lakeland at the 89th national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 39,794 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Lakeland's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 91st percentile nationally.
Where Lakeland's buildings actually sit
Most of Lakeland's buildings (57% of 39,794) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure. At 39,794 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Lakeland ranks
Lakeland scores 89th nationally and 78th within Florida — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lakeland ranks 3,464 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 245 by building count (1 is largest). Within Florida alone, it ranks 207 of 955 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Florida on its state page.
Lakeland and the insurance market
Lakeland's very high rating (89th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
What would actually reduce this score
With 57% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Lakeland gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Lakeland's figures come from
Lakeland's 89th-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 Lakeland's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.