St. Joseph, TN
St. Joseph, TN's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores St. Joseph at the 54th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 661 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 St. Joseph at the 57th percentile, close to its 54th-percentile risk score.
Where St. Joseph's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in St. Joseph: 76.6% of its 661 buildings, versus 23.5% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
St. Joseph against the rest of the country
St. Joseph scores 54th nationally and 47th within Tennessee — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, St. Joseph ranks 14,639 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,053 by building count (1 is largest). Within Tennessee alone, it ranks 266 of 502 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Tennessee on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
St. Joseph's elevated wildfire rating (54th 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 St. Joseph
With 76.6% of St. Joseph in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 661 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for St. Joseph. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond St. Joseph, see the exposure-zones guide.