Riceville, TN
How exposed is Riceville to wildfire?
Riceville sits at the 72nd 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 514 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Riceville at the 77th national percentile — 5 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
514 buildings are counted in Riceville, and 71.4% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
How Riceville compares
There's little gap between Riceville's 72nd national percentile and its 71st percentile inside Tennessee, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Riceville ranks 8,802 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,125 by building count (1 is largest). Within Tennessee alone, it ranks 148 of 502 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Tennessee on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 72nd percentile nationally, Riceville carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
With 71.4% of Riceville 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 514 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Riceville. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Riceville, see the exposure-zones guide.