Sylacauga, AL
How exposed is Sylacauga to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Sylacauga lands at the 82nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 6,234 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Sylacauga at the 85th national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Sylacauga's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 58.5% of Sylacauga's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 41.5% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 3,645 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most. At 6,234 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Sylacauga against the rest of the country
Sylacauga's risk sits at a similar level relative to Alabama (82nd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (82nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sylacauga ranks 5,630 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,783 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alabama alone, it ranks 107 of 592 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alabama on its state page.
Sylacauga and the insurance market
Sylacauga's very high rating (82nd 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 Sylacauga (58.5%), 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
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 6,234 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Sylacauga. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Sylacauga, see the exposure-zones guide.