Lenoir, NC
Lenoir, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Lenoir's 9,805 buildings earn a 50th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Lenoir at the 52nd national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 54.3% of Lenoir's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 39.4% Indirect share and far above its 6.3% Minimal share — a profile where 5,326 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most. At 9,805 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Lenoir against the rest of the country
Lenoir's risk sits at a similar level relative to North Carolina (38th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (50th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lenoir ranks 15,702 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,659 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 479 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Lenoir's elevated rating (50th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Lenoir's 54.3% 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 Lenoir's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 9,805 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Lenoir. The exposure-zones guide covers what Lenoir's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.