Salem, NC
Salem, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Salem's 1,475 buildings earn a 52nd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Salem at the 55th national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Salem's buildings actually sit
Of Salem's 1,475 counted buildings, 91.7% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Salem against the rest of the country
Salem's risk sits at a similar level relative to North Carolina (42nd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (52nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Salem ranks 15,296 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,284 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 448 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
Salem's elevated wildfire rating (52nd percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Hardening a home in Salem
Because Direct exposure dominates in Salem (91.7%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,475 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Salem. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Salem, see the exposure-zones guide.