St. Stephens, AL
St. Stephens, AL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, St. Stephens lands at the 77th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 367 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, St. Stephens's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 79th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Of St. Stephens's 367 counted buildings, 99.2% carry Direct exposure and only 0.3% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
How St. Stephens compares
St. Stephens's risk sits at a similar level relative to Alabama (68th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (77th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, St. Stephens ranks 7,172 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,921 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alabama alone, it ranks 189 of 592 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alabama on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
St. Stephens's high rating (77th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in St. Stephens (99.2%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where St. Stephens's figures come from
St. Stephens's 77th-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 St. Stephens's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.