Pine Knoll Shores, NC
Pine Knoll Shores wildfire risk explained
Pine Knoll Shores sits at the 56th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 1,258 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 Pine Knoll Shores at the 50th percentile, close to its 56th-percentile risk score.
Where Pine Knoll Shores's buildings actually sit
1,258 buildings are counted in Pine Knoll Shores, and 56% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 44% rated Minimal.
Pine Knoll Shores against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Pine Knoll Shores's 56th national percentile and its 54th percentile inside North Carolina, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Pine Knoll Shores ranks 13,938 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,307 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 357 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Pine Knoll Shores
At the 56th national percentile, Pine Knoll Shores rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
With 56% of Pine Knoll Shores 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 Pine Knoll Shores's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,258 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Pine Knoll Shores. The exposure-zones guide covers what Pine Knoll Shores's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.