South Hill, VA
How exposed is South Hill to wildfire?
South Hill sits at the 39th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 2,656 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts South Hill at the 41st percentile, close to its 39th-percentile risk score.
Where South Hill's buildings actually sit
2,656 buildings are counted in South Hill, and 53.5% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
South Hill against the rest of the country
There's little gap between South Hill's 39th national percentile and its 31st percentile inside Virginia, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, South Hill ranks 19,110 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,011 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 467 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
South Hill's moderate rating (39th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in South Hill (53.5%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where South Hill's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind South Hill's 19,110-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what South Hill's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.