Mount Vernon, KY
Mount Vernon, KY's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Mount Vernon at the 77th national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 1,550 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Mount Vernon at the 81st national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Mount Vernon's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Mount Vernon (73% of 1,550 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 27% sit in the Direct zone.
How Mount Vernon compares
Mount Vernon scores 77th nationally and 86th within Kentucky — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mount Vernon ranks 7,151 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,956 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kentucky alone, it ranks 81 of 552 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kentucky on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Mount Vernon
At the 77th percentile nationally, Mount Vernon 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Mount Vernon's 73% 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.
More on how this number was built
Mount Vernon's 77th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Mount Vernon, see the exposure-zones guide.