Ocala, FL
Ocala, FL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Ocala lands at the 72nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 23,238 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Ocala at the 73rd national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Direct exposure dominates in Ocala: 42.5% of its 23,238 buildings, versus 14.9% Indirect and 42.5% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap. At 23,238 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Ocala compares
Ocala's 72nd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 30th ranking inside Florida does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 42 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ocala ranks 8,878 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 563 by building count (1 is largest). Within Florida alone, it ranks 669 of 955 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Florida on its state page.
Ocala and the insurance market
At the 72nd percentile nationally, Ocala 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
Because Direct exposure dominates in Ocala (42.5%), 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
Ocala's 72nd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Ocala, see the exposure-zones guide.