Nicholson, MS
How exposed is Nicholson to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Nicholson lands at the 91st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 1,509 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Nicholson's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 93rd percentile nationally.
Where Nicholson's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Nicholson: 76.8% of its 1,509 buildings, versus 23.2% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Nicholson against the rest of the country
Nicholson scores 91st nationally and 93rd within Mississippi — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Nicholson ranks 2,772 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,123 by building count (1 is largest). Within Mississippi alone, it ranks 30 of 420 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Mississippi on its state page.
Nicholson and the insurance market
At the 91st percentile nationally, Nicholson carries the very 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.
Hardening a home in Nicholson
Nicholson's 76.8% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Nicholson's 2,772-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Nicholson, see the exposure-zones guide.