Melbourne, AR
Melbourne, AR's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Melbourne lands at the 79th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 1,285 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Melbourne at the 83rd percentile, close to its 79th-percentile risk score.
Where Melbourne's buildings actually sit
64.8% of Melbourne's 1,285 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 833 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 35.2% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
How Melbourne compares
Melbourne scores 79th nationally and 79th within Arkansas — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Melbourne ranks 6,485 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,160 by building count (1 is largest). Within Arkansas alone, it ranks 132 of 614 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Arkansas on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Melbourne's high rating (79th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 64.8% of Melbourne 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,285 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Melbourne. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Melbourne, see the exposure-zones guide.