Parmele, NC
Parmele wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Parmele at the 47th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 175 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Parmele at the 46th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Parmele's buildings actually sit
89.7% of Parmele's 175 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 157 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 10.3% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
How Parmele compares
Parmele's 47th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 32nd ranking inside North Carolina does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 15 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Parmele ranks 16,714 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,829 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 530 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Parmele's elevated rating (47th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 89.7% of Parmele 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 175 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Parmele. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Parmele, see the exposure-zones guide.