Marble, NC
Marble wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Marble at the 87th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 286 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Marble at the 89th national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Marble's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Marble: 85.7% of its 286 buildings, versus 14.3% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Where Marble ranks
Marble scores 87th nationally and 96th within North Carolina — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Marble ranks 4,097 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,016 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 31 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Marble
At the 87th percentile nationally, Marble 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
Because Direct exposure dominates in Marble (85.7%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Marble's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Marble's 4,097-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Marble's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.