McGaheysville, VA
McGaheysville wildfire risk explained
USFS scores McGaheysville at the 56th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 518 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts McGaheysville at the 56th percentile, close to its 56th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of McGaheysville's buildings (54.3%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Where McGaheysville ranks
There's little gap between McGaheysville's 56th national percentile and its 61st percentile inside Virginia, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, McGaheysville ranks 13,914 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,060 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 264 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
McGaheysville and the insurance market
McGaheysville's elevated rating (56th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in McGaheysville
McGaheysville's 54.3% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where McGaheysville's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind McGaheysville's 13,914-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what McGaheysville's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.