Starkville, MS
How exposed is Starkville to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Starkville at the 59th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 9,587 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Starkville at the 61st percentile, close to its 59th-percentile risk score.
Where Starkville's buildings actually sit
9,587 buildings are counted in Starkville, and 48.5% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 40.3% in Direct exposure or the 11.2% rated Minimal. At 9,587 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Starkville compares
Starkville ranks lower within Mississippi (32nd percentile statewide) than its 59th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Starkville ranks 12,954 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,700 by building count (1 is largest). Within Mississippi alone, it ranks 287 of 420 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Mississippi on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Starkville's elevated wildfire rating (59th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Starkville (48.5% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Starkville's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Starkville's 12,954-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Starkville's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.