Nags Head, NC
Nags Head wildfire risk explained
Nags Head sits at the 93rd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 5,114 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Nags Head's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 87th percentile nationally.
Where Nags Head's buildings actually sit
5,114 buildings are counted in Nags Head, and 55.5% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 7.9% in Direct exposure or the 36.6% rated Minimal. At 5,114 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Nags Head ranks
Nags Head scores 93rd nationally and 99th within North Carolina — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Nags Head ranks 2,299 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,372 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 11 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Nags Head
Nags Head's very high rating (93rd 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.
Hardening a home in Nags Head
Nags Head's 55.5% 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 Nags Head's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Nags Head's 2,299-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Nags Head's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.