Snow Lake Shores, MS
How exposed is Snow Lake Shores to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Snow Lake Shores lands at the 82nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 288 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Snow Lake Shores at the 85th national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Snow Lake Shores's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 97.2% of Snow Lake Shores's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 0% Indirect share and far above its 2.8% Minimal share — a profile where 280 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Where Snow Lake Shores ranks
Snow Lake Shores scores 82nd nationally and 84th within Mississippi — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Snow Lake Shores ranks 5,769 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,964 by building count (1 is largest). Within Mississippi alone, it ranks 70 of 420 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Mississippi on its state page.
Snow Lake Shores and the insurance market
Snow Lake Shores's 82nd-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.
Hardening a home in Snow Lake Shores
Because Direct exposure dominates in Snow Lake Shores (97.2%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Snow Lake Shores's figures come from
Snow Lake Shores's 82nd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Snow Lake Shores's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.