Panama City, FL
Panama City, FL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Panama City sits at the 85th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 17,692 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Panama City at the 85th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Panama City's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Panama City's buildings (86.2% of 17,692) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure. At 17,692 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Panama City ranks
Inside Florida, Panama City sits at just the 65th percentile even though it scores 85th nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Panama City ranks 4,665 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 810 by building count (1 is largest). Within Florida alone, it ranks 334 of 955 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Florida on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 85th percentile nationally, Panama City 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 86.2% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Panama City gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Panama City's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 17,692 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Panama City. The exposure-zones guide covers what Panama City's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.