Ocracoke, NC
Ocracoke, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Ocracoke at the 93rd national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 1,231 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Ocracoke at the 87th percentile, close to its 93rd-percentile risk score.
Where Ocracoke's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Ocracoke (62.7% of 1,231 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 34.4% sit in the Direct zone.
Ocracoke against the rest of the country
Ocracoke 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, Ocracoke ranks 2,083 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,466 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 8 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Ocracoke
At the 93rd percentile nationally, Ocracoke 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Because 62.7% of Ocracoke's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Ocracoke's figures come from
Ocracoke's 93rd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Ocracoke's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.