Onley, VA
How exposed is Onley to wildfire?
USFS scores Onley at the 44th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 428 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Onley's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 43rd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 63.6% of Onley's 428 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 36.5% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Onley ranks
There's little gap between Onley's 44th national percentile and its 40th percentile inside Virginia, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Onley ranks 17,822 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,703 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 410 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
Onley and the insurance market
Onley's elevated rating (44th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Onley's 63.6% 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 Onley's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 428 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Onley. The exposure-zones guide covers what Onley's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.