Sterlington, LA
Sterlington wildfire risk explained
Sterlington sits at the 49th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 883 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Sterlington's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 50th percentile nationally.
Where Sterlington's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 71.5% of Sterlington's 883 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 28.4% Direct and 0.1% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Sterlington ranks
There's little gap between Sterlington's 49th national percentile and its 56th percentile inside Louisiana, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sterlington ranks 15,973 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,875 by building count (1 is largest). Within Louisiana alone, it ranks 214 of 488 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Louisiana on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Sterlington
Sterlington's elevated rating (49th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 71.5% of Sterlington's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Sterlington's 15,973-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Sterlington, see the exposure-zones guide.