Madison, NC
Madison, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Madison at the 32nd national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 1,585 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Madison at the 33rd national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Madison's building exposure, zone by zone
Of Madison's 1,585 counted buildings, 57.1% 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.
Madison against the rest of the country
Madison's 32nd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 4th ranking inside North Carolina does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 28 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Madison ranks 21,594 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,813 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 743 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Madison and the insurance market
Madison's moderate rating (32nd 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
Madison's 57.1% 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 Madison's figures come from
Madison's 32nd-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 Madison's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.