St. Stephen, SC
How exposed is St. Stephen to wildfire?
St. Stephen sits at the 87th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 946 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, St. Stephen's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 88th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
946 buildings are counted in St. Stephen, and 76.4% 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.
St. Stephen against the rest of the country
There's little gap between St. Stephen's 87th national percentile and its 94th percentile inside South Carolina, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, St. Stephen ranks 4,073 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,337 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Carolina alone, it ranks 29 of 474 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Carolina on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 87th percentile nationally, St. Stephen carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
St. Stephen's 76.4% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 946 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for St. Stephen. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond St. Stephen, see the exposure-zones guide.