Rodanthe, NC
Rodanthe wildfire risk explained
Rodanthe sits at the 65th 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 596 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Rodanthe's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 57th percentile nationally.
Where Rodanthe's buildings actually sit
Most of Rodanthe's buildings (44.3% of 596) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure.
Rodanthe against the rest of the country
Rodanthe scores 65th nationally and 64th within North Carolina — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Rodanthe ranks 11,166 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,895 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 277 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Rodanthe's 65th-percentile, 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
With 44.3% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Rodanthe gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Rodanthe's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Rodanthe's 11,166-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Rodanthe's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.