Marfa, TX
Marfa wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Marfa lands at the 96th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 1,708 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Marfa's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 97th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
86.8% of Marfa's 1,708 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 13.2% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Marfa ranks
Marfa's risk sits at a similar level relative to Texas (97th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (96th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Marfa ranks 1,211 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,393 by building count (1 is largest). Within Texas alone, it ranks 60 of 1,795 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Texas on its state page.
Marfa and the insurance market
At the 96th percentile nationally, Marfa 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 86.8% of Marfa's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Marfa's 1,211-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Marfa, see the exposure-zones guide.