Smithfield, NC
Smithfield, NC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Smithfield at the 48th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 5,513 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Smithfield at the 48th percentile, close to its 48th-percentile risk score.
Where Smithfield's buildings actually sit
Most of Smithfield's buildings (52.8%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone. At 5,513 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Smithfield compares
Smithfield scores 48th nationally and 34th 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, Smithfield ranks 16,300 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,124 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 511 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 48th national percentile, Smithfield rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Smithfield (52.8% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Smithfield's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 5,513 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Smithfield. The exposure-zones guide covers what Smithfield's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.