Linden, TN
How exposed is Linden to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Linden at the 53rd national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 542 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Linden at the 55th national percentile — 3 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
Indirect exposure is dominant in Linden (52% of 542 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 48% sit in the Direct zone.
How Linden compares
Linden scores 53rd nationally and 46th within Tennessee — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Linden ranks 14,953 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,689 by building count (1 is largest). Within Tennessee alone, it ranks 271 of 502 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Tennessee on its state page.
Linden and the insurance market
Linden's elevated wildfire rating (53rd percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Linden (52% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 542 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Linden. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Linden, see the exposure-zones guide.