Lakeland Highlands, FL
How exposed is Lakeland Highlands to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Lakeland Highlands lands at the 90th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 4,904 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Lakeland Highlands's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 90th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Lakeland Highlands's buildings (42.6% of 4,904) 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.
Lakeland Highlands against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Lakeland Highlands's 90th national percentile and its 81st percentile inside Florida, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lakeland Highlands ranks 3,211 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,487 by building count (1 is largest). Within Florida alone, it ranks 185 of 955 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Florida on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Lakeland Highlands
At the 90th percentile nationally, Lakeland Highlands carries the very 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 Lakeland Highlands
Even with 42.6% of Lakeland Highlands outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Lakeland Highlands's 90th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Lakeland Highlands, see the exposure-zones guide.