Pearisburg, VA
Pearisburg wildfire risk explained
Pearisburg sits at the 66th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 1,455 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Pearisburg at the 66th percentile, close to its 66th-percentile risk score.
Pearisburg's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Pearisburg (77.7% of 1,455 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 22.3% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Pearisburg ranks
Pearisburg's risk sits at a similar level relative to Virginia (77th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (66th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Pearisburg ranks 10,887 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,376 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 160 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Pearisburg's 66th-percentile, 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 Pearisburg
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Pearisburg (77.7% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Pearisburg's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Pearisburg's 10,887-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Pearisburg's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.