McAllen, TX
How exposed is McAllen to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, McAllen lands at the 76th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 48,104 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks McAllen at the 77th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Only 3.6% of McAllen's 48,104 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0.7% carry Indirect; the remaining 95.7% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure. At 48,104 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where McAllen ranks
McAllen ranks lower within Texas (49th percentile statewide) than its 76th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, McAllen ranks 7,542 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 184 by building count (1 is largest). Within Texas alone, it ranks 907 of 1,795 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Texas on its state page.
McAllen and the insurance market
At the 76th percentile nationally, McAllen carries the 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.
What would actually reduce this score
With 95.7% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, McAllen gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
More on how this number was built
McAllen's 76th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond McAllen, see the exposure-zones guide.