Pungoteague, VA
Pungoteague, VA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Pungoteague at the 52nd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 255 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Pungoteague at the 51st national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Of Pungoteague's 255 counted buildings, 78.8% carry Direct exposure and only 0.8% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Pungoteague against the rest of the country
Pungoteague scores 52nd nationally and 56th within Virginia — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Pungoteague ranks 15,176 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,000 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 298 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
Pungoteague and the insurance market
Pungoteague's elevated rating (52nd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Pungoteague
With 78.8% of Pungoteague 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 255 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Pungoteague. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Pungoteague, see the exposure-zones guide.