Summerton, SC
How exposed is Summerton to wildfire?
Summerton sits at the 75th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 611 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Summerton at the 73rd percentile, close to its 75th-percentile risk score.
Where Summerton's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 56.3% of Summerton's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 43.7% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 344 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Summerton against the rest of the country
Summerton's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Carolina (74th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (75th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Summerton ranks 7,924 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,686 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Carolina alone, it ranks 127 of 474 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Summerton
Summerton's 75th-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 56.3% of Summerton in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Summerton's figures come from
Summerton's 75th-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 Summerton's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.