Perdido Beach, AL
How exposed is Perdido Beach to wildfire?
Perdido Beach sits at the 89th 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 533 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Perdido Beach's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 90th percentile nationally.
Perdido Beach's building exposure, zone by zone
86.1% of Perdido Beach's 533 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 459 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 13% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0.9% are Minimal.
Perdido Beach against the rest of the country
Perdido Beach scores 89th nationally and 97th 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, Perdido Beach ranks 3,359 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,818 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alabama alone, it ranks 21 of 592 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alabama on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Perdido Beach's very high rating (89th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
What would actually reduce this score
Perdido Beach's 86.1% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Perdido Beach's figures come from
Perdido Beach's 89th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Perdido Beach's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.