Unicoi, TN
Unicoi, TN's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Unicoi at the 80th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 2,321 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Unicoi's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 82nd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
2,321 buildings are counted in Unicoi, and 86.5% 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.
Unicoi against the rest of the country
Unicoi scores 80th nationally and 86th within Tennessee — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Unicoi ranks 6,409 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,661 by building count (1 is largest). Within Tennessee alone, it ranks 71 of 502 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Tennessee on its state page.
Unicoi and the insurance market
Unicoi's high rating (80th 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
Unicoi's 86.5% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Unicoi's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Unicoi's 6,409-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Unicoi's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.