Opelika, AL
Opelika, AL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Opelika's 13,816 buildings earn a 82nd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Opelika's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 85th percentile nationally.
Where Opelika's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Opelika: 45.2% of its 13,816 buildings, versus 33.7% Indirect and 21.2% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap. At 13,816 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Opelika ranks
Opelika scores 82nd nationally and 83rd within Alabama — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Opelika ranks 5,596 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,097 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alabama alone, it ranks 103 of 592 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alabama on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Opelika
Opelika's 82nd-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Hardening a home in Opelika
With 45.2% of Opelika in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Opelika's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Opelika's 5,596-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Opelika's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.