Marion, KY
How exposed is Marion to wildfire?
Marion's 2,072 buildings earn a 34th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Marion at the 36th percentile, close to its 34th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
58.9% of Marion's 2,072 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 1,221 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 41.1% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
How Marion compares
Compare Marion's two percentiles: 62nd within Kentucky, only 34th nationally — a gap of 29 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Marion ranks 20,892 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,280 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kentucky alone, it ranks 207 of 552 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kentucky on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Marion
Marion's moderate rating (34th 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
With 58.9% of Marion in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Marion's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,072 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Marion. The exposure-zones guide covers what Marion's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.