McCaysville, GA
How exposed is McCaysville to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, McCaysville lands at the 85th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 740 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks McCaysville at the 87th national percentile — 3 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
740 buildings are counted in McCaysville, and 66.6% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
How McCaysville compares
McCaysville scores 85th nationally and 96th within Georgia — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, McCaysville ranks 4,887 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,218 by building count (1 is largest). Within Georgia alone, it ranks 30 of 669 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Georgia on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in McCaysville
McCaysville's 85th-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in McCaysville (66.6%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
McCaysville's 85th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond McCaysville, see the exposure-zones guide.