Monarch Mill, SC
How exposed is Monarch Mill to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Monarch Mill lands at the 63rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 1,290 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Monarch Mill at the 66th national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Monarch Mill's buildings actually sit
68.1% of Monarch Mill's 1,290 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 879 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 31.9% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Where Monarch Mill ranks
Monarch Mill's 63rd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 28th ranking inside South Carolina does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 35 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Monarch Mill ranks 11,642 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,127 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Carolina alone, it ranks 339 of 474 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Carolina on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Monarch Mill's 63rd-percentile, 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 Monarch Mill (68.1%), 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
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,290 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Monarch Mill. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Monarch Mill, see the exposure-zones guide.