Laurens, SC
Laurens wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Laurens at the 62nd national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 4,780 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Laurens's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 65th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Direct exposure dominates in Laurens: 56.5% of its 4,780 buildings, versus 43.5% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Where Laurens ranks
Laurens ranks lower within South Carolina (24th percentile statewide) than its 62nd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Laurens ranks 12,051 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,568 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Carolina alone, it ranks 358 of 474 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Laurens
Laurens's 62nd-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Laurens (56.5%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Laurens's figures come from
Laurens's 62nd-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 Laurens's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.