Laurel Bay, SC
Laurel Bay, SC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Laurel Bay lands at the 80th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 2,152 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Laurel Bay at the 77th national percentile — 4 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Laurel Bay's buildings actually sit
Of Laurel Bay's 2,152 counted buildings, 50.6% 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.
How Laurel Bay compares
Laurel Bay scores 80th nationally and 84th within South Carolina — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Laurel Bay ranks 6,311 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,065 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Carolina alone, it ranks 76 of 474 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Laurel Bay
Laurel Bay's high rating (80th 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.
Hardening a home in Laurel Bay
With 50.6% of Laurel Bay in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Laurel Bay's figures come from
Laurel Bay's 80th-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 Laurel Bay's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.