Stearns, KY
Stearns wildfire risk explained
Stearns's 1,019 buildings earn a 84th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Stearns at the 87th national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
1,019 buildings are counted in Stearns, and 84.2% 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.
Where Stearns ranks
There's little gap between Stearns's 84th national percentile and its 86th percentile inside Kentucky, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Stearns ranks 4,918 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,806 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kentucky alone, it ranks 77 of 552 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kentucky on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Stearns's very high rating (84th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Stearns (84.2%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Stearns's 84th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Stearns, see the exposure-zones guide.