Salisbury, NC
How exposed is Salisbury to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Salisbury at the 53rd national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 13,890 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Salisbury's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 56th percentile nationally.
Salisbury's building exposure, zone by zone
47.5% of Salisbury's 13,890 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 40.2% Direct and 12.3% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone. At 13,890 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Salisbury against the rest of the country
Salisbury scores 53rd nationally and 47th 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, Salisbury ranks 14,788 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,086 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 412 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
At the 53rd national percentile, Salisbury rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Salisbury
Because 47.5% of Salisbury's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Salisbury's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Salisbury's 14,788-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Salisbury's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.