Sullivan's Island, SC
Sullivan's Island, SC's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Sullivan's Island lands at the 94th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 1,259 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Sullivan's Island at the 87th national percentile — 6 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Sullivan's Island's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Sullivan's Island (78% of 1,259 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 5.9% sit in the Direct zone.
How Sullivan's Island compares
There's little gap between Sullivan's Island's 94th national percentile and its 99th 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, Sullivan's Island ranks 1,931 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,305 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Carolina alone, it ranks 4 of 474 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Carolina on its state page.
Sullivan's Island and the insurance market
At the 94th percentile nationally, Sullivan's Island 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.
Hardening a home in Sullivan's Island
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Sullivan's Island (78% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Sullivan's Island's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Sullivan's Island's 1,931-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Sullivan's Island's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.