Riverview, VA
Riverview wildfire risk explained
Riverview sits at the 83rd 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 470 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Riverview at the 86th national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Riverview's buildings actually sit
470 buildings are counted in Riverview, and 77.7% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 22.3% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Riverview against the rest of the country
Riverview's risk sits at a similar level relative to Virginia (93rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (83rd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Riverview ranks 5,501 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,885 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 46 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
Riverview's 83rd-percentile, very 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Riverview's 77.7% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 470 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Riverview. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Riverview, see the exposure-zones guide.