Manchester, KY
How exposed is Manchester to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Manchester at the 90th national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 816 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Manchester at the 93rd national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Manchester's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Manchester's buildings (63.7%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
How Manchester compares
Manchester scores 90th nationally and 90th within Kentucky — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Manchester ranks 3,243 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,493 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kentucky alone, it ranks 55 of 552 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kentucky on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Manchester
At the 90th percentile nationally, Manchester 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
Manchester's 63.7% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Manchester's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Manchester's 3,243-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Manchester's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.