Laurel Hill, NC
How exposed is Laurel Hill to wildfire?
Laurel Hill sits at the 86th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 792 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Laurel Hill at the 87th percentile, close to its 86th-percentile risk score.
Where Laurel Hill's buildings actually sit
66.4% of Laurel Hill's 792 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 526 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 33.6% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Laurel Hill against the rest of the country
Laurel Hill scores 86th nationally and 95th within North 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 Hill ranks 4,387 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,714 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 42 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Laurel Hill and the insurance market
At the 86th percentile nationally, Laurel Hill 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Laurel Hill's 66.4% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Laurel Hill's figures come from
Laurel Hill's 86th-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 Hill's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.